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OUR LITTLE CRUSADER COUSIN 
OF LONG AGO 


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The Little Cousins of Long Ago Series 


Our Little 
Crusader Cousin 
Of Long Ago 

Being the Story of Hugh, page 
to King Richard of England, 
in the Third Crusade 


BY 

EVALEEN STEIN 

Authorof “Our Little Frankish Cousin of Long Ago,** 
“Our Little Norman Cousin of Long Ago,” “Our 
Little Celtic Cousin of Long Ago,” “The Christmas 
Porringer,” “Gabriel and the Hour Book,” etc. 


ILLUSTRATED BY 

CHARLES E. MEISTER 



BOSTON 

THE PAGE COMPANY 
MDCCCCXXI 




Copyright , 1921, by 
The Page Company 

All rights reserved 


First Impression, January, 1921 


MAR 25 1921 


THE COLONIAL PRESS 
C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. 


g)CI. A611335 


'^<0 I 


TO 

MY YOUNG FRIEND 



















Preface 


I wonder if you boys and girls know what the 
crusades were ? Perhaps not ; so in as few pages 
as I can I will try to give you a little idea of 
them, though when you grow older you will find 
there are no end of interesting things to learn 
about them. 

In the first place we must go back a long way, 
to the year iooo,when, for some reason or other, 
people in Europe got it into their heads that be- 
cause it was a thousand years from the birth of 
Christ the world would surely come to an end. 
They were so certain of it that they thought a 
great deal about their sins and what would be- 
come of them in the next world. Many of them 
even sold all they had and spent their time mak- 
ing pilgrimages from one holy place to an- 
other; for they believed that to go on foot and 
pray at these shrines would benefit them greatly 
in the life to come. Some went to shrines of 
saints near their homes, some to the city of 
Rome and elsewhere; but of course the most 
vii 


PREFACE 


viii 


sacred place of all to visit was Jerusalem, where 
is the tomb of our Saviour. To pray at this, the 
Holy Sepulchre, as it was most often called, 
these pilgrims longed to do more than anything 
else. Those who had done so were called 
“ palmers ” because they always wore in their 
hats a bit of palm which they brought from the 
Holy Land, and they no doubt were not a little 
proud that they had made the long and perilous 
journey in safety. For in those days to go to 
Jerusalem was indeed a hard and dangerous un- 
dertaking, requiring many months, sometimes 
years. 

Some went by land, passing through many 
countries and enduring great hardships; while 
others, going to some port on the Mediterranean 
sea, — you know Palestine is on the eastern 
coast of this, — sailed in boats, usually small and 
crowded and little able to withstand storm and 
shipwreck. And worst of all, when at last the 
weary pilgrim reached the holy city he was 
liable to be beaten or robbed or perhaps killed 
by the Turks, or Saracens, as most people called 
them, who ruled over Palestine. The Saracens 
did not believe in our Christian religion, but in 
their own prophet Mohammed; so they looked 


PREFACE 


IX 


with contempt on the pilgrims and treated them 
very cruelly. 

Now of course you know the world did not 
come to an end in the year 1000. But the 
European people were still frightened, and de- 
cided that they must have made a mistake and 
that it would end a thousand years from the 
crucifixion of our Lord instead of from his 
birth. So for thirty-two years more they made 
pilgrimages harder than ever. At the end of 
that time they found that most of them were still 
alive and the world behaving about as usual and 
with no signs of the Day of Judgment; perhaps 
it was to show their relief and thankfulness to 
God because of this, or perhaps simply because 
so many had gotten in the habit of it, but at any 
rate pilgrims still thronged to Jerusalem and the 
Saracens treated them worse and worse all the 
time. 

Of course the pilgrims brought back many 
stories of cruelty and of how the infidels (that 
means people who do not believe in our religion, 
and was another name for the Saracens) des- 
ecrated even the tomb of our Saviour; and these 
stories made their friends at home more and 
more angry and indignant. At last things came 


X 


PREFACE 


to a climax when a French monk, named Peter 
the Hermit, went to Jerusalem and was so badly- 
treated that on his way home he stopped at 
Rome and told Pope Urban about things there. 
Peter spoke so well that the Pope wept over the 
story, and going to France with Peter, he called 
together a large company, in which were many 
of the greatest princes and noblest knights of the 
land. 

The Pope told them the things he had heard, 
and then begged them to stop fighting and quar- 
reling among themselves, as many of them had 
been doing, and to go to the Holy Land and take 
the Holy Sepulchre away from the Saracens; 
indeed, to conquer Jerusalem and all Palestine 
so that Christians might go there and worship 
in peace. 

Before the Pope was through speaking, every- 
body had become so excited that suddenly as 
with one voice the multitude shouted, “ God wills 
it ! ” “ God wills it ! ” and pressing forward, 
vowed that they would go and fight for the Holy 
Land and the tomb of Christ. At this Pope 
Urban said, “ Let this then be your war-cry, 

* God wills it ! ’ ” And in token that they were 
going to fight and shed their blood for Christ, 


PREFACE 


xi 


each man received a cross of red cloth, which was 
fastened upon his sleeve; and having once taken 
this cross, it was considered cowardly and dis- 
graceful to turn back from the undertaking. 

But they did not turn back. The princes and 
knights set to work to raise great armies, and 
knights and soldiers from other countries joined 
them. It all took a long while, but at last they 
were ready, and in the year 1096 they set off for 
Palestine; and because of the red cross every 
man wore, the expedition was called a “ crusade ” 
and the soldiers “ crusaders.” 

Long and hard was the journey; thousands 
died on the way from sickness and hardships and 
fighting enemies in countries through which they 
passed. But at last the crusaders reached Pales- 
tine, which they finally conquered after many 
months of gallant fighting. Indeed, the fame 
of the heroes of that first crusade is still handed 
down in poetry and stories. Of course, having 
conquered the country, they could not all go 
away and leave it at the mercy of the Saracens, 
who would all the while be trying to get it back 
again. So many of the leaders sent for their 
wives and children and planned to stay there, 
building castles and living much as they did at 


xii 


PREFACE 


home. The chief part of the land they called 
the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and they elected for 
king of this the best and bravest knight among 
them, Godfrey of Bouillon. 

But Godfrey, though he consented to govern 
the city and country, would not be called king, 
saying he would not wear a crown of gold where 
Christ had worn one of thorns. Godfrey ruled 
well, but lived only a short time; and after him 
came several other rulers, who, less humble than 
he, allowed themselves to be called kings. 

But sure enough, all the while the Saracens 
were not idle, and kept trying harder and harder 
to drive out the Christians from the different 
cities. At last, under the leadership of their 
Sultan Saladin, who was a skilful warrior, they 
succeeded in recapturing some of these places, 
for a great many of the first crusaders had gone 
back home and there were not enough left to 
hold them. 

When news of this reached Europe, the kings 
of France and of Germany led a second crusade 
to try and drive the Saracens off again. But the 
Christian armies were ambushed and defeated 
and accomplished nothing. A few years more 
and the Saracens had got back nearly all Pales- 


PREFACE 


xiii 


tine, including Jerusalem. When this happened, 
King Richard of England, who was soon to win 
the name of “ the Lion Heart,” determined to 
lead a third crusade, and he asked King Philip 
of France to join him. These two were then the 
most powerful kings in Europe. They decided 
to go by sea instead of land, and planned to get 
their armies and fleets together and meet at the 
island of Sicily, which was on the way. Then 
they were to sail from there to the seaport city 
of Acre in Palestine ; for Acre had the best har- 
bor on that coast, and before they could march 
on to Jerusalem they would have to capture the 
place so they could keep on landing more troops 
and supplies there. Moreover, they knew that 
the Christian armies already in Palestine had for 
two years been besieging the city in vain and 
were still camped about it. 

Now the two kings expected to reach Sicily in 
the spring of the year 1190, — it was almost a 
hundred years, you see, after the first crusade, — 
but so many things delayed them that they did 
not meet there until fall, and with the kind of 
ships people had then they dared not risk a long 
voyage through the storms of winter; so Rich- 
ard and Philip had to stay in Sicily until the next 


xiv 


PREFACE 


spring. As soon as April came Philip sailed for 
the Holy Land ; but as some of the English sup- 
ply ships had not yet come, Richard had to wait 
a few weeks longer; — and this brings us to 
the beginning of our story, which starts in 
June, 1191. 

There were other crusades after the one our 
story is about, seven in all, and many are the 
gallant heroes of these whose names have been 
handed down to us ; but for his marvelous daring 
and unsurpassed bravery, his kingly spirit and 
his romantic life none has so captured the 
world’s fancy as has King Richard of«the Lion 
Heart, who is even now on his way sailing into 
our little story. 


Contents 


CHAPTER 

Preface 


m 

PAGE 

vii 

I. 

Richard the Lion Heart Lands 

IN 



Palestine 



I 

II. 

Hugh Tells of the Voyage . 


. 

II 

III. 

In the Camp before Acre 


. 

23 

IV. 

Assaulting the City . 


.. 

39 

V. 

The Fall of Acre .... 



48 

VI. 

On the Road to Jerusalem . 


. 

58 

VII. 

The King Goes Falconing . 


. 

75 

VIII. 

Malek Adel Visits Richard . 


. 

84 

IX. 

The Old Man of the Mountain 

. 

96 

X. 

The Hill of Hebron . 


. 

108 

XI. 

The Battles at Jaffa . 


. 

119 

XII. 

The Return Home . ... l#1 

i*J 


139 




List of Illustrations 


49 

88 

116 

128 


PAGE 

Hugh and Raymond . . . Frontispiece ~ 

“ Hugh ran forward and pulled up the 

DART ” ...... 

“ King Richard, who played and sang for 
Malek Adel ” 

“ ‘ Lifted his shield before his face ’ ” 

“ Richard sat up, dazed at first ” 

“ He gave him a wonderful jewel for his 


is- 


CAP 


141 




Key to Pronunciation of Proper 
Names and Some Other Words 


Acre (ah'-ker) 

Al'-lah 

Ascalon (as'-ka-lon) 
As'-sur 

Beauvaise (bo-vay') 
Beirut (bay-root') 
Berengaria (ba-ren-ga'- 
re-a) 

Bouillon (boo-yon) 
Bur'-gun-dy 
Cat'-a-pult 
Champaign (sham- 
pane') 

Cyprus (si'-prus) 
Favelle (fav-el') 


Languedoc (lang-dok') 
Lusignan (lu-zen-yon) 
Mal'-ek A'-del 
Man'-go-nel 
Montferrat (mon-fa- 
rah') 

Mosque (mosk) 
Navarre (na-var') 
Pet'-ra-ry 
Pratelles (pra-tel') 
Rhodes (rodz) 
Sal'-a-din 
Sicily (sis'-i-ly) 
Trenchmer (tranch'- 
mare) 


Our Little Crusader Cousin 
of Long Ago 


CHAPTER I 

RICHARD THE LION HEART LANDS IN PALESTINE 

Far away, on the coast of Palestine, beyond 
the ancient city of Acre the slopes of Mount 
Carmel gleamed bright green in the June sun- 
light; pink and white oleanders, blue myrtle 
bloom, golden daisies and countless other of the 
gay flowers that flourish in that warm country 
dotted the green, and here and there rose tall, 
feathery palm trees crowned with clusters of 
ripening dates. But though the mountain was 
bright with color, the sandy plain beside the city 
walls was gray with tattered tents of war from 
which floated banners and pennons once brilliant 
and glowing but now faded in the burning sun 
l 


2 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


of the East; for the crusading army besieging 
Acre had been camped there for two years. 

To be sure, along the shore there showed now 
beside this older camp the fresher tents of the 
French host and the silken one of King Philip 
with its standard sown with golden lilies. But 
though these new crusaders from France had 
been welcomed with such joy nearly two months 
before, and though they had helped batter and 
pound the walls of Acre almost every day since 
then, still the great stone towers were stout and 
strong, the city still untaken. And more than 
this, Saracen soldiers and their allies, a mixed 
horde of Turks, Moors, Arabs and Egyptians 
(though I shall call them all, as did many of the 
crusaders, simply “ Saracens ”), were all the 
while gathering to help the people of Acre, and 
had begun to besiege the besiegers themselves, 
so that the latter had been obliged to dig a moat 
around their camp and be constantly on the 
watch for attacks from behind while they were 
trying in vain to storm the city. 

(Before I go any farther, I wonder, have you 
children read the Preface of this story? If not, 
you had best hurry up and do so or you will 
not understand things nearly so well. It is not 


THE LION HEART IN PALESTINE 3 


very long, and though I am going right on with 
the story, if you are quick about it you can soon 
catch up.) 

It is no wonder then that all the Christian 
army, especially those who had been there two 
whole years, were hoping and praying for the 
fleet of Richard to sail in sight, for they felt 
sure that with the coming of the lion-hearted 
king the city must surely be captured. For 
weeks they had looked anxiously to the west 
across the waters of the Mediterranean, but it 
was not till the June morning when our story be- 
gins that a soldier who had climbed up the slopes 
of Mount Carmel suddenly saw a tiny streak of 
white away off on the horizon, and flashing in 
front of it a gleam of red. Then more and more 
white rose over the sea, and with a glad cry, 
“ King Richard is coming ! ” he flew down to 
the camp, and in a moment, as the word sped 
from mouth to mouth, the shore was lined with 
an eager throng, all breathlessly watching as 
nearer and nearer drew the English fleet. 

On and on they came, oars flashing, sails 
swelling, ships and ships of every kind, almost 
^{wo hundred of them. Soon rose the sound of 
trumpets from the foremost one, sweeping far 


4 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


ahead of all, flying scarlet sails and red as a 
poppy from stem to stern. “ Look ! Look ! ” 
“ King Richard’s ship, the Trenchmer! ” shouted 
the French soldiers; for while in Sicily they had 
seen the royal vessel, whose name means “ sea- 
cutter.” 

And very gay and splendid it looked, its 
scarlet sides glittering in the sun, its deck flutter- 
ing with the bright pennons of the noble knights 
who crowded to its rail. At either end of the 
ship was a high platform with castle-like turrets, 
and on this were the trumpeters blowing as hard 
as ever they could. But it was the prow of the 
vessel that caught the attention of all. There 
flew the royal standard of England with its 
three lions, and close beside it stood a tall, 
powerfully built and strikingly handsome man 
who bore himself with the most noble dignity. 
Over his hauberk of chain mail hung a purple 
mantle fastened with a richly jeweled clasp; his 
head was uncovered, and his tawny yellow hair, 
curling about his neck, shone in the light. As he 
stood motionless, with folded arms, his clear 
blue eyes fixed on the land seemed not to see the 
excited throng waiting there, but to be looking 
into some great dream of his own; and then, just 


THE LION HEART IN PALESTINE 5 


as the ship was getting ready to anchor, with a 
sudden quick gesture flinging his mantle back 
and moving to the rail, he plunged into the sea, 
and wading breast-high to the shore, reverently 
knelt and touched his lips to the sacred soil. 
Thus it was that King Richard of the Lion 
Heart landed, first of all the fleet. 

For a few moments the waiting crowd had 
stood speechless, watching the king, but the in- 
stant he rose to his feet such a shout of joy 
went up that even the Saracens in the besieged 
city began to mount the walls and peer over the 
battlements; and their hosts of allies camped 
along the shore ventured nearer to glimpse this 
wonderful new hero who had come to fight them 
and whose fame had already spread across the 
sea. 

As for the crusaders, they were simply wild 
with joy, and while King Philip was welcoming 
Richard they hurriedly formed processions, 
marching up and down, beating drums, blowing 
trumpets, and fairly shouting themselves hoarse. 

Meantime the knights and their followers were 
flocking off the Trenchmer, and among them 
came a boy in the dress of a page, a tunic of 
Lincoln green, long black hose, a short scarlet 


6 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


cape and small velvet cap with a pheasant’s 
feather; on one sleeve of his tunic was embroid- 
ered a red cross, on the other three leopards. 
His fair hair and dark eyes spoke his mixed 
Saxon and Norman blood; and as he eagerly 
scanned the people on shore suddenly his face 
lighted as a dark-haired boy of about his own 
age sprang toward him, and with a glad 
“ Hugh ! ” and “ Raymond ! ” they tumbled into 
each other’s arms. The two lads, both pages, 
Hugh, as the leopards on his sleeve showed, 
serving King Richard, and Raymond attending 
Count William de Pratelles of France, had met 
during the winter the armies had spent in Sicily 
and had become warm friends; though of course 
they had been separated when King Philip sailed 
first for Palestine. 

As Hugh now gazed wonderingly around, 
“Why!” he said, “it looks as if people were 
here from every country in the world! ” 

“ Yes,” answered Raymond, “ I believe they 
are. Ever so many have come since we’ve been 
here; that group of newer tents yonder are 
Austrians who got here a short time ago with 
their Duke Leopold, and the older crusaders say 
that for two or three years little parties of 


THE LION HEART IN PALESTINE 7 


soldiers have been landing from nearly every- 
where. Did you ever in your life see so many 
different banners and so many queer-looking 
people and queer clothes ? ” 

“ No, indeed ! ” said Hugh, continuing to gaze 
around. And Raymond was certainly right; the 
people were of many races, and their .clothes of 
innumerable kinds, yet none in the least like we 
are used to seeing soldiers wear. What kind were 
they, then? Well, the Saracens had loose robes 
girdled in various ways, and turbans of many 
folds of silk or linen wrapped around their heads 
to protect them from the hot sun. The crusad- 
er’s dress was usually some kind of long tunic 
of linen or wool, and cross-gartered hose; and 
when the knights put on their armor they wore 
over it another loose, sleeveless tunic, called a 
surcoat, often richly embroidered, and meant, 
like the turbans of their enemies, to protect them 
from the heat. For most of them had come 
from cooler countries and had found that the 
sun of Palestine could make their metal armor 
as hot as an oven. 

But while Hugh was still staring, “ Look ! ” 
cried Raymond, “ the other biggest ships have 
anchored, and there are ladies on one! See! 


8 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


King Philip is lifting one of them ashore in his 
arms! Who is she? I didn’t see her in Sicily.” 

“ That is the Princess Berengaria of Na- 
varre,” answered Hugh. “-No, I mean Queen 
Berengaria. King Richard married her in Cy- 
prus only a week ago. I will tell you about it 
when we*get time to talk. Isn’t she a beauty? 
And that other handsome lady is Queen Joan, 
King Richard’s sister, — she used to be queen of 
Sicily. They have a lot of noble ladies with 
them and they are all going along with the 
army.” 

“Well,” said Raymond, “there are a good 
many ladies in camp now, wives of the different 
knights who live here, so I guess they won’t be 
lonesome. But look at the big chests they are 
taking off the third ship! I suppose that is 
King Richard’s treasure ship. King Philip had 
one; it’s over there in the harbor now.” 

“ Yes,” said Hugh, “ and I don’t wonder they 
have to have big chests of gold. It must take an 
enormous amount of money to pay so many 
soldiers and buy things for them to eat.” 

“ I should think so ! ” echoed Raymond. “ You 
know all our ships carried a year’s supply of 
stuff to eat, but when we came, things were get- 


THE LION HEART IN PALESTINE 9 


ting so scarce with the army that had been here 
so long that we had to let them have some of 
our food. The crusaders, though, haven’t suf- 
fered anything like the folks shut up in the city 
there. They say they are nearly starved, for of 
course the armies camped here won’t let anything 
get inside the gates. They think the Saracens out- 
side do manage to sneak in a few things for the 
Acre people, but it can’t be much, and they must 
be mighty hungry.” 

“ Well,” said Hugh, “ King Richard started 
with a year’s supply, too, and he has brought be- 
sides a lot of grain and fruit and wine and I 
don’t know what all from Cyprus, so I. guess 
there will be enough to last our armies for a 
while.” 

Meantime the new-comers were being shown 
the place allotted to them for their camp and the 
soldiers were beginning to pitch the tents; so 
the two pages scampered off to see if they were 
needed for any service. 

All day long the crusaders swarmed about, un- 
loading ships and arranging the new camp, and 
though much was still to be done, by nightfall the 
quarters were ready for the more important peo- 
ple. The gay silken pavilions for the two queens 


10 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


and their ladies were pitched at a safe distance 
from any possible fighting and were piled with 
cushions spread with rich coverings; and before 
the handsome tent of King Richard in the midst 
of the camp was planted the English standard 
and his own banner with its three leopards. 

When it grew dark great bonfires were lighted, 
and all the soldiers feasted and shouted and sang 
and spent nearly the whole night rejoicing. 
Hugh and Raymond were so excited they could 
hardly sleep at all when, near dawn, they threw 
themselves on their beds, each in a tent adjoining 
that of his master. The two kings however 
were not with the rejoicing throng. In Rich- 
ard’s tent for hours they talked over the crusade 
and tried to plan what would be their next move 
against Acre ; and when they parted, both looked 
tired and worn. For Philip was barely recov- 
ered from the fever which had attacked him in 
Palestine and which had carried off so many of 
the crusaders who were unused to the climate; 
and Richard, who had been sailing down the 
coast for several days, was beginning also to 
feel the seeds of this same sickness. 


CHAPTER II 


HUGH TELLS OF THE VOYAGE 

The next morning Hugh did a number of er- 
rands for King Richard, and then the latter, who 
was fond of the lad, told him he might run along 
and look around a bit with his friend Raymond. 
Hugh at once hurried over toward the French 
camp, and though Raymond had told him in what 
direction to look for Count William’s tent, he was 
quite uncertain of finding it among so many 
thousands. But luckily he had not gone far 
when he spied Raymond holding the bridle of a 
war-horse his master was mounting. He was 
going with a company of French knights to see 
if they could find some Saracens thought to be 
hiding in the hills and trying to bring food to 
the besieged city. 

As soon as Count William rode off the two 
pages ran down to the shore to watch the rest of 
the ships being unloaded. These were of many 
kinds and sizes; as no one then had dreamed of 
11 


12 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


steamboats, all had sails, and long rows of oars, 
too. The smaller ones were called galleys and 
the larger “ busses ” and “ dromonds ; ” these 
last usually had one deck and a few cabins be- 
low, and carried about two hundred men, in- 
cluding fifty knights and their horses, and pro- 
visions for a year. At each end was built up a 
platform where trumpeters could sit, or, more 
important when the ship was in a fight, where 
archers could be stationed; for gunpowder was 
not yet invented. Also, at the top of the mast 
was a little cage-like place to which archers 
could climb by means of a rope ladder. These 
ships were thought very large and fine in those 
days, though to us they would look very small 
and queer. 

As the two boys watched, “ Look l ” said Ray- 
mond, “ that must be King Richard’s horse they 
are taking off the Trenchmer. See how careful 
they are with him and how proudly he steps along. 
But, Hugh,” he added, as he eyed the horse 
more critically, “ that’s not the one he had in 
Sicily; that was a black one from Spain, I re- 
member.” 

“ Yes,” said Hugh, “ it was, but he likes this 
one better; he got him in the island of Cyprus 


HUGH TELLS OF THE VOYAGE 13 


on the way here, and his name is Favelle. Isn’t 
he handsome? And they say the jewels on his 
harness and trappings are worth a fortune, and 
besides these the stirrups and all the trimmings 
of the saddle are pure gold and on his crupper 
are two little golden lions pawing each other! 
And there come more of the knights’ horses, all 
with their armor!” For war-horses then were 
protected by armor, the same as their masters. 

“ And they will find it mighty hot and un- 
comfortable in this country ! ” said Raymond. 
“ I’ve seen the horses and knights, too, just 
panting after they have been fighting a while. I 
guess the Saracens know better how to do in a 
climate like this. They ride the fastest kind of 
Arabian horses and carry just light shields, and 
they seem to depend more on shooting their 
arrows and then getting out of the way quickly. 
Of course in hand-to-hand fighting our crusaders 
can smash harder with their battle-axes and 
things.” 

“ I see the armies here have a good many fight- 
ing machines,” said Hugh, “ but I believe King 
Richard has brought some better ones. There 
are some of them now coming off yonder gal- 
leys,” and he pointed to the huge wooden struc- 


14 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


tures being set up on the beach; some were for 
pounding through city walls, and were called 
“ battering-rams ” because of the ram’s head of 
copper fastened on the end of the great beam 
of wood which did the pounding and which was 
hung by ropes to a strong framework. There 
were other ropes fastened to the beam and it 
sometimes took hundreds of men to pull *it back 
and forth. Other of the machines were called 
catapults, petraries and mangonels and were 
made to shoot arrows or hurl stones a great dis- 
tance. 

As the boys eyed these machines, “ You know,” 
went on Hugh, “they are the ones King Richard 
had built in Sicily last winter because he thought 
wood was scarce over here. He even brought 
stones for the catapults. Do you see that pile 
there on the beach ? ” 

“ Yes,” answered Raymond, “ it was a good 
thing he got them ready in Sicily. Wood and 
stones are scarce here. And just a few days ago 
our French army was attacking the city walls 
and the Saracens poured down some Greek fire 
and burned up two of King Philip’s biggest 
machines. That Greek fire is horrible! A lot 
of soldiers have been burned to death by its get- 


HUGH TELLS OF THE VOYAGE 15 


ting under their armor, and water won’t put it 
out. I never saw anything like it before.” 

“ I saw some of it on the way here, when 
King Richard fought the Saracen ship,” said 
Hugh. 

“ What all did King Richard do on the way? ” 
asked Raymond. “ We didn’t stop anywhere or 
have any adventures ! ” he added regretfully. 

“ Well,” said Hugh, “ things generally are 
moving when King Richard is around. Didn’t 
we have a fine exciting winter in Sicily when he 
was fighting King Tancred there?” 

“Yes, indeed!” answered Raymond, his eyes 
sparkling. “ I never did know, though, what the 
quarrel was about; you know King Philip kept 
out of it.” 

“ There was reason enough to fight,” said 
Hugh. “ It seems the husband of Queen Joan, 
King Richard’s sister, used to be king of Sicily, 
and when he died a while ago Tancred got him- 
self made king and shut up Queen Joan and took 
away all her money. He earned the good beat- 
ing he got ! ” 

“Did they make up afterward?” asked Ray- 
mond. “ You know about that time we sailed 
for here with King Philip.” 


16 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


“ Yes,” said Hugh, “ they gave each other 
presents, and then King Richard invited every- 
body to a big feast in honor of his betrothal to 
Princess Berengaria. His mother, Queen Elea- * 
nor, had brought her from Navarre, somewhere 
near Spain, where her father is king. King 
Richard couldn’t go after her himself, because 
he had started on the crusade, but he wanted to 
get married and take her along.” 

“ But I thought you said yesterday they were 
married in Cyprus,” said Raymond, looking 
rather bewildered. 

“ So they were,” answered Hugh, “ for when 
the princess got to Sicily, — it was just after you 
left, — it was Lent, you know, and it’s against the 
church rules to have grand weddings then. So 
they thought, as Lent would soon be over, they 
would stop at Rhodes, one of the islands on the 
way, and get married there. King Richard had 
that handsome ship over there fitted up for the 
ladies, for Queen Joan decided to come, too, and 
he sent along some of our best knights to guard 
them. You just ought to have seen us start 
away from Sicily. I believe everybody there was 
out to see us off ! It was a fine bright day, and 
we had flags flying and music playing and every- 


HUGH TELLS OF THE VOYAGE 17 


thing lively. When it got dark they lighted the 
big red lantern on the mast of the Trenchmer — 
see it over there ? — so the others could follow 
our ship. But in a little while a terrible storm 
came up.” 

“ Were you scared?” asked Raymond. 

“ Yes,” admitted Hugh, after a moment’s hes- 
itation, “ I was. The storm lasted two days and 
I thought surely we should all upset and be 
drowned! Several of the ships were wrecked 
and blown to pieces, a lot of them ran up on 
little islands, and the third day we managed to 
put into the harbor at Rhodes. The Trenchmer 
was pretty badly battered up, but when King 
Richard looked around and saw the ladies’ ship 
wasn’t there, he wouldn’t stay, but gave orders 
to sail right on for Cyprus, which was the next 
big island. He thought maybe he would find the 
princess there. The next day we sighted Cyprus, 
and there was the ladies’ ship standing off out- 
side the harbor of a town.” 

“ Why were they outside the harbor?” asked 
Raymond. 

“ That was what King Richard wanted to 
know,” replied Hugh. “ So he sent two sailors 
and one of our knights in the Trenchme/s lit- 


18 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


tie life-boat to see what was the matter; and the 
captain of the ladies’ ship told them that two others 
of our galleys had been wrecked on the coast and 
when the men tried to swim ashore the Cyprus 
people beat them off so they could get all 
the valuable things that floated in. They acted 
so mean that the captain didn’t dare land with 
the ladies. When our folks came back and told 
King Richard that, he was simply furious ! ” 

“ What did he do ? ” inquired Raymond, who 
was listening with interest. 

“ Do ? ” echoed Hugh, “ why, the wind wasn’t 
toward the harbor so we could sail in, but he 
ordered the rowers to get the Trenchmer there 
as fast as they could. Then we all hurried 
ashore and King Richard sent for the king of 
Cyprus, whose name was Isaac. When Isaac 
showed fight and wouldn’t apologize for the out- 
rageous way his people had acted about the 
wreck, King Richard just grabbed his big battle- 
ax — you know how enormous it is — and wav- 
ing it in the air, he rushed toward the town to 
attack it. All our knights went after him, and 
a good many from some other ships that had 
come up, and before long King Richard had 
taken the town. And right away he signalled 


HUGH TELLS OF THE VOYAGE 19 


for the ladies’ ship to come on, and he took 
Princess Berengaria and Queen Joan and their 
maids of honor and put them in Isaac’s best 
palace. Then he took another fine palace for 
himself, and all the knights had very grand 
houses to stay in.” 

“ What became of Isaac?” put in Raymond. 

“ At first he promised everything King Rich- 
ard wanted,” replied Hugh, “ but when King 
Richard found he was all the while plotting be- 
hind his back, he made him prisoner. Isaac cried 
and made such a fuss about being chained up 
that King Richard said his chains should be 
silver because he had been a king. He looked 
pretty scornful, though, when he said it, and put 
a good strong guard over him, so I guess Isaac 
will never get Cyprus back again.” 

“ How long did you stay there? ” asked Ray- 
mond. 

“ A whole month,” answered Hugh, “ and 
then came the wedding. It was the grandest 
affair! King Richard looked magnificent; he 
had on a bright rose-colored satin tunic and a 
mantle of striped silver tissue all embroidered 
with jewels, and his belt and sword were spark- 
ling with more jewels, and on his head was a 


20 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


kind of cap of red velvet brocaded with gold 
lions, and he carried a gold scepter in his hand. 
The Princess Berengaria looked like a fairy be- 
side him, — you saw how little she is. She wore 
a wonderful white dress, with lots of gold and 
diamonds,” he added vaguely, for he could re- 
member Richard’s costume better than his 
bride’s. “ And then,” he went on, “ I helped 
carry in the dishes at the feast afterward, and I 
was worn out when it was over. I never saw 
so many fine things to eat in all my life, and 
everything was served on gold and silver plat- 
ters, for we used all Isaac’s best things and he 
was very rich. Right away after the feast we 
loaded up the ships again and started for here.” 

“ When was it you fought the Saracen ship ? ” 
was Raymond’s next question. 

“ Why, that was two days after we left Cy- 
prus,” replied Hugh. “ It was the biggest ship 
I ever saw. King Richard thought it must have 
held nearly fifteen hundred men ! ” 

“ Whew ! ” exclaimed Raymond, with round 
eyes. “ I didn’t know ships could be so big ! ” 

“ Neither did I,” said Hugh, “ but it was. 
It seems it was carrying food and money for 
Acre here; I suppose they thought they could 


HUGH TELLS OF THE VOYAGE 21 


sneak it into the city some way. The ship was 
so big that King Richard knew the Trenchmer 
couldn’t fight it alone, so he ordered six more 
of our fleet to line up in a row and they all 
started to ram the Saracen one. It was then the 
Saracens began throwing Greek fire on ours. 
They threw vases full of it, — it’s a kind of 
liquid, you know, — and when the vases smashed, 
it caught fire in the air, and it got on some of the 
sailors and burned them to death ! ” 

“ Did the rams make a hole in the ship ? ” 
asked Raymond. 

“ Yes,” said Hugh, “ and when the Saracens 
saw that, they began to chop more holes as fast 
as they could, for they wanted the ship to sink 
before our men could climb on it. I guess they 
thought they would rather drown than fall into 
the hands of our crusaders, and then, too, they 
didn’t want us to get all the food and treasure 
they had on board. But King Richard and the 
rest hurried and climbed on it and got most of 
the things off and put on our ships. The Sara- 
cens fought like everything, but unless they 
could swim somewhere I don’t think many were 
alive when our fighters got through with them. 
Some of our men were killed but most got back 


22 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


all right to our ships, and then we sailed on for 
Palestine. When King Richard first caught 
sight of the coast he said two words I couldn’t 
understand, — one of the knights said they were 
Latin and meant 4 Holy Land ’ — and then he 
never took his eyes off it, but just stood watch- 
ing it in a kind of dream till we landed.” 

“ Well,” said Raymond, drawing a long 
breath, “ of course our trip here was all very 
strange and new to me, but it was nothing like 
so exciting as yours ! ” 

But by this time the boys knew they had bet- 
ter be going back to their masters, so they parted 
for the day. 


CHAPTER III 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 

It was more than a week after the landing of 
the English fleet and their new camp was in 
fairly good order, but none of the leaders of the 
crusade were in a particularly good humor and 
many of the foot-soldiers were growing every 
day more impatient because no progress had 
been made toward the taking of Acre. Every- 
body had hoped for so much with the coming of 
King Richard, but for days he had been 
stretched on his bed tossing and burning with 
the terrible fever that had attacked so many of 
the crusaders, and which of course was the 
reason he was not in a good humor. King 
Philip was irritable and cross because he him- 
self was still not entirely over the same kind of 
fever, though he had not been nearly so sick as 
Richard; and then he did not like the delay, and 
moreover he and Richard were not really very 
23 


24 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


good friends anyway, and only tried to keep at 
peace with one another on account of the cru- 
sade. Then there was the Austrian Duke Leo- 
pold, who was out of sorts because he was a 
stupid man with a high opinion of himself and 
he thought King Richard had snubbed him, 
which likely he had as he had a great contempt 
for Duke Leopold. 

As for the people of Acre, no doubt they were 
all the while getting hungrier and crosser; and 
the Sultan Saladin with his army of Saracens 
camped on the hills behind Acre and his allies 
beyond the moat of the crusaders were becoming 
tired with their constant watching. 

But if affairs were not going in a way to 
please the grown folks on either side, our two 
boys found no end of things to interest them. 
Everything was so strange and different from 
their own homes, and until starting on the cru- 
sade neither had ever traveled anywhere. And 
this reminds me that I have not yet told you 
where their homes were nor how it happened 
that, though one came from England and the 
other from France, they had no trouble in talking 
to each other. That was because many of the 
English nobles, of whom Hugh’s father was one, 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 25 


and especially King Richard himself, though 
born in England, seemed really to belong much 
more to France and spoke French almost al- 
together. And as the reason for this French- 
iness has to do with the history of Richard, I 
must tell you a little about him before going on 
with the boys. 

One hundred and thirty years before, Rich- 
ard’s great-grandfather, William, Duke of Nor- 
mandy (which was part of France), had got 
together an army and sailed over and conquered 
England, to which he claimed a right, and had 
made himself king. The Saxons who lived there 
had fought hard, but had to submit; and King 
William and the Norman knights who had come 
with him, though they settled down to live in 
England, for a long while still spoke their own 
French language and did things as they had done 
in Normandy. When William died his children 
and grand-children grew up and married into 
noble French families, dukes and counts of large 
domains, so that by the time that Richard be- 
came king of England he had inherited also at 
least half of France. And though he was not 
called king of these French possessions but, as 
was the custom of the time, had to render 


26 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


“ homage ” for them to King Philip, neverthe- 
less the latter knew that the homage was scarcely 
more than a form; and as Richard grew more 
and more powerful, Philip became more and 
more uneasy lest he gain possession of still more 
of France. At the same time Richard on his 
part more than suspected that Philip, who was 
crafty as he himself was open, was trying to 
get from him his French inheritance. 

So it was that though they had once been good 
friends they had come to distrust one another, 
and, odd as it may seem, that was one reason 
why they had gone together on the crusade. 
Neither wanted to go away and leave the other 
behind for fear his kingdom would be gone 
when he came back. Yet while they disliked and 
suspected each other, for the sake of the success 
of the crusade they tried to work together and 
of course always behaved most politely. 

And now that we understand more about the 
kings, let us go back for a minute to the history 
of our boys. Hugh’s father, Sir Kenneth of 
Alnwyck, was of Norman descent and had been 
a friend of King Richard in his youth; his 
mother was a Saxon lady, and though from her 
he had learned the language of England, French 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 27 


was usually spoken in the home which was a 
beautiful castle on the banks of the river Wye. 
But Hugh had not lived there since he was seven 
years old, for, as was the Norman custom, boys 
of that age were always sent away to the home 
of some other noble knight to be brought up and 
trained. They spent the first seven years in their 
new home as pages, then at fourteen they be- 
came squires, and finally, at twenty-one, if con- 
sidered worthy, they received knighthood. So 
Hugh had been sent to the castle of an English 
knight, also of Norman blood, where he had 
lived happily for five years, learning many things 
not in books, of which there were but few then. 

Meantime the boy’s father had suffered a long 
illness which had left him quite helpless; and 
when he heard of the crusade King Richard was 
planning he was broken-hearted at being unable 
to take the cross himself and go along, for he 
was a brave knight. But remembering his 
friendship for Richard, whom he had seen much 
of in Normandy long before he was king, he had 
sent word to him begging that he would take 
Hugh with him as page. Sir Kenneth felt it 
would comfort him to know at least that his 
young son was going, if only as a page, and that 


28 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


he might do some service in the army of the 
cross. For the wish to be a crusader was taking 
everybody by storm. King Richard, to the joy 
of both Hugh and his father, had readily granted 
the latter’s request; and the lad had shown him- 
self so bright and mannerly that he had already 
become a favorite with his master. 

Raymond’s history was, in part, not unlike that 
of Hugh. His father, a baron of Languedoc, 
had sent him to be trained in the chateau of his 
friend Count William de Pratelles; when Count 
William joined the crusaders, as of course no 
knight could take with him all the pages and 
squires he had at home, he had chosen Raymond 
because of his faithfulness and obedience. 

So now we are ready to go on with our story 
again. As I said before, the boys found much 
to interest them, and whenever they had a spare 
moment they spent it together poking around the 
great camp. One morning when thus looking 
about, “ The big fighting machines are all put 
together,” said Hugh, “ and do you see that roof 
of fresh hides on the tall wooden tower? A 
soldier told me that it was soaked in vinegar 
and that the Greek fire couldn’t burn it ! ” 

“ Is that so?” said Raymond, looking with 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 29 


interest at the great tower-like structure built in 
several stories and mounted on wheels so that it 
might be loaded with archers and drawn up close 
to the walls of the besieged city. For King 
Richard, in spite of his sickness, had ordered the 
machines he had brought with him to be set up, 
a fort to be built and preparations made so far 
as possible for the attack on Acre which he 
hoped to make as soon as he was able. “ Just 
see how far along the new fort is,” went on 
Raymond. “ I wonder how the Acre people like 
the looks of it,” and he glanced toward the bat- 
tered city walls where the Saracen flag still flew 
with its crescent and single star. 

As the boys strolled along it was like going 
through a great tented town. Everywhere were 
flying the banners and pennons of the innumer- 
able knights, and here and there were war-horses 
being groomed or hounds blinking in the sun. 
Armorers were busy looking over the long 
tunics of metal, or “ hauberks,” as they were 
called, some made of hundreds of rings of steel 
sewn on thick leather, some of small metal rings 
linked together like a chain purse, and some of 
scales of steel lapping over each other. Then 
there were curious helmets of all kinds being 


30 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


rubbed up. Some of these were of chain mail 
like the hauberks ; but most were round with flat 
tops, looking much like kitchen saucepans turned 
upside down. Lances and spears and bows and 
arrows were everywhere to be seen. And every- 
where, too, were crosses. Each man wore his 
cross of red cloth on the breast or sleeve of his 
tunic, unless he belonged to one of the military 
orders, in which case it was fastened on the 
shoulder of a large black or white mantle, and 
he wore also a red cap with a white one under it 
and carried a staff tipped by a small white shield 
bearing a red cross. 

There were two of these military orders, or 
societies, one called the Knights of the Temple 
and the other the Knights of St. John; both 
having been started in Jerusalem a long while 
before and their object being to try to protect 
pilgrims from the Saracens. They had begun 
simply as brotherhoods of monks, though all 
were of noble birth. The Knights of the Tem- 
ple, so named because their house was near the 
temple in the holy city, would go to the coast 
whenever pilgrims landed and do their best to 
fight off the Saracens, who would often attack 
them; the Knights of St. John, or Hospital- 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 31 


lers, as they were often called, took care of 
those who fell sick or were wounded in these 
fights. The two orders had been small and poor 
at first, but had grown so rich and powerful that 
when the crusades began both took an important 
part in the fighting, and in the camp at Acre 
their tents and banners covered a large space. 

Beyond these were three small churches built 
of wood, for as many of the crusaders had been 
there so long they had tried to supply some of the 
things they had had at home. And as they were 
not fighting or praying all the while, they found 
ways to amuse themselves between times. They 
had laid out lists and sometimes tournaments 
were held, where the noble knights fought in 
sham battles (as if they did not have enough 
real ones!) while the ladies looked on; for there 
were a number of the latter in the camp. There 
were troubadours who sang songs, and story- 
tellers and even jugglers to entertain when there 
was a lull in the fighting. Often, too, some of 
the knights would make bold to mount their 
war-horses and gallop off with their falcons on 
their wrists to chase hawks or other birds. For 
this kind of hunting was a sport all delighted in, 
and many had brought with them their finest 


32 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


falcons, which were natural birds of prey and 
had been carefully trained to chase and capture 
other birds. Indeed, as the boys reached 
the edge of the French camp, a horseman at- 
tended by two squires dashed past with a smile 
of greeting for both lads. “ There goes Count 
William hunting!” cried Raymond. “ Did you 
see his falcon? It's a beauty. I feed and tend 
it. Did King Richard bring his?” 

“ Bring his? ” echoed Hugh. “ Well, I should 
'think so! He’s brought his favorite, named Ar- 
row, and a dozen besides. I believe he’d as soon 
think of leaving his head behind, for he likes 
hawking better than almost anything else in the 
world except fighting and playing on his lute and 
making up poetry; you know he’s great at that. 
He keeps the lute near his bed where it’s always 
handy, and the falcons are in the tent just beyond 
his, and I help take care of them.” 

Here the boys fell to discussing the training 
of falcons, till presently they found themselves 
at the moat which I told you the crusaders had 
been obliged to dig around their camp to help 
protect them from the Saracens camped beyond 
and ready to attack them from behind and so 
distract their attention whenever they tried to 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 33 


assault the city. As now the boys looked across 
the deep ditch filled with sea water, the Saracen 
camp, like that of the crusaders, seemed a town 
of. tents. There were fewer fluttering banners 
and pennons than those of the Christians, but 
many of the tents were striped with gay colors 
and gorgeously furnished within. Indeed, if our 
two pages could have peeped into that belonging 
to the Sultan Saladin, camped with his hosts on 
the hills beyond the city, they would have fairly 
gasped at the magnificence of it, for the people 
of the far East have always loved color and gold 
and gems, and Saladin’s tent was much more 
splendid than even the handsome ones of the 
crusading kings. 

But though Hugh and Raymond could not see 
all these things, they could watch the strange 
people moving about in their gay robes. Dark- 
eyed Egyptians in brightly striped mantles and 
turbans; tall, swarthy Nubians from the desert, 
in white robes and with heads swathed in many 
folds of white linen; brown Arabs sitting by 
their tents polishing long spears, or else rubbing 
down the silky coats of their swift-footed horses; 
all these were a never ending wonder to the boys. 

Then from where the camp stretched far out 


34 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


they could hear the cries of the many people who 
came daily to sell their wares. There were 
donkeys laden with fagots, water-carriers with 
goat-, some even with ox-skins full of water, for 
any fit to drink was scarce in Palestine, and so 
were bottles and barrels, so this was the way it 
was carried about and sold; there were sweet- 
meat and fruit venders, all shouting at the top 
of their voices, dogs barking, — but all at once 
Hugh, who had been eagerly watching as much 
as he could, caught sight of something he had 
never seen before. “ What’s that queer beast 
over yonder ? ” he cried, “ See ! it has humps on 
on its back ! ” 

“ Oh,” said Raymond, smiling, “ that’s a 
camel. You’ll see lots of them here; they carry 
things on their backs, and people ride on them.” 

“ I can’t imagine how ! ” said Hugh, still gaz- 
ing; for there were no circuses then so folks 
could know about the animals of far countries. 

If the boys could only have walked through the 
camp they would have found many more things to 
interest them. They would have seen bakers, 
always a pair of them, sitting cross-legged by the 
queerest ovens, just square holes in the ground, a 
couple of feet wide and deep, and lined with 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 35 


smooth, hard plaster. One of the men would be 
throwing in bundles of dry thorn-bush, which, 
blazing up quickly, would make the plaster very 
hot. Then the other baker, who had been pat- 
ting out large round loaves of dough, scarcely 
thicker than pasteboard, would clap them one 
by one on the sides of the oven where they would 
bake in a minute or two. Beyond these perhaps 
would be a barber sitting on his heels while his 
customer, whose head he was shaving, knelt on a 
rug before him. 

Then there were fortune-tellers, and letter- 
writers, in flowing robes and with long ebony 
cases for their reed pens stuck in their girdles, 
writing letters for soldiers, beginning each 
at the back of a folded sheet of parchment and 
writing in slanting lines toward the upper left- 
hand corner, so filling every page to the front 
of the sheet, where the letter ended. Why did 
they write backward like that? Dear me! I 
do not know, except that their ancestors had al- 
ways done so, just as, when reading their books, 
they began at the back and read toward the front, 
instead of the way we do. If our boys could 
have looked into some of the finer tents they 
likely would have seen men seated on cushions, 


36 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


their slippers with curled-up toes on a rug beside 
them. If meal-time, they would have in front of 
them little tabourettes, tiny round tables not 
more than two feet high, with large brass trays 
on them set out with bowls of food and baskets 
of fruit. What kind of food? Well, except 
the fruit, mostly things you would not like : mut- 
ton or kid cut up in chunks and boiled with all 
sorts of queer flavors; curdled milk, lentils and 
rice, maybe, all of which they ate with their 
fingers. Where were their plates and knives and 
forks and spoons ? They did not have any l In- 
stead, each man had beside him a pile of the thin 
round loaves the bakers had made; taking one 
of these he would double it over and use it to 
scoop up the meat and gravy, everybody eating 
from the same bowl. Did not their fingers get 
frightfully sticky? Of course, but then, when 
they finished, a servant would bring a handsome 
copper ewer and basin and pour water over their 
hands and dry them on a napkin. But that 
would not have been a strange sight to 
our pages, who were used to serving their mas- 
ters the same way; for nobody used forks then 
and the crusaders’ fingers got as sticky as any- 
body’s. 


IN THE CAMP BEFORE ACRE 37 


Nevertheless there were so many odd things 
going on it was a pity the two boys could not get 
a closer glimpse of them. They did see a good 
deal though, and a crusader soldier who was 
standing near, guarding the moat, noticing their 
interest, pointed out some more. “ Do you see 
that long, low roof over yonder? ” he asked; and 
as the boys looked, “ That’s a big bazaar where 
they have all kinds of queer things to sell. And 
over that way,” pointing in another direction, 
“ they have a regular market, and they are al- 
ways trying to get things across the moat here 
and through our camp into the city. Only last 
night our archers shot down a boat-load of them, 
and I guess their stuff is pretty salty by this 
time ! ” and he smiled grimly as he glanced down 
into the water beneath. 

“ They’ve got a regular bath place, too,” he 
went on, “ and a mosque over yonder for their 
heathen worship. I can hear those outlandish- 
looking priests of theirs every day when they call 
out ‘ La Allah ! La Allah ! ’ or something like 
that, and then you ought to see all those folks 
drop down on their knees as quick as lightning 
and begin mumbling prayers to some of their 
heathenish gods ! Pah ! the dogs of infidels ! ” 


38 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


and the soldier spat on the ground to show his 
contempt for the whole Saracen race. 

And no doubt at the same time, over in the 
enemy camp, there were Saracens who looked 
across the moat and spoke of “ the dogs of 
Christians ” with their little wooden churches. 
No doubt, too, the Saracens understood the 
Christian worship as little as the soldier did 
theirs, and were just as contemptuous when every 
evening crusaders bowed their heads in prayer 
as a loud-voiced herald went through the camp 
shouting out “ God save the Holy Sepulchre ! ” 
Later on both Christians and Saracens came to 
know each other better and to look with more 
respect on the efforts of each to seek God; — but 
it took a long time. 

Meanwhile our two boys had turned away 
from the moat, and “ Let’s go over where Queen 
Berengaria’s tent is,” said Hugh. “ Maybe there 
will be a puppet show to see.” 

“ All right,” answered Raymond, and they 
scampered off toward the ladies’ quarters, for 
there was generally amusement of some kind go- 
ing on there. 


CHAPTER IV 


ASSAULTING THE CITY 

One morning as Hugh was moving quietly 
about, putting his master’s tent in order, the sick 
king, lying on his bed with closed eyes, slightly 
roused and asked the two faithful knights watch- 
ing by him, “ Does Philip attack the city soon ? I 
thought I heard my squires whispering about it.” 

“ Yes, Sire,” answered one of the knights, 
“ the French army will assault Acre at mid-day.” 

Richard only shrugged his shoulders and again 
closed his eyes. But when Hugh, having finished 
his work, stepped outside, he heard other knights 
talking. “ It’s too bad King Richard can’t do 
anything!” said one. “ Yes,” replied the other, 
“ you know he is still desperately sick, but King 
Philip doesn’t want to wait, and some of the 
English troops will help guard the moat.” 

And this reply of the knight showed one of 
the reasons why the crusaders did not get along 
so well as they might. There was more or less 
jealousy between the armies of the different 
39 


40 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


nations, and they did not always work together 
to the best advantage. When the French made 
an attack, part of the English would often hold 
back, and the French would do the same way 
when the English king led. And Duke Leopold 
of Austria was often sulky and wouldn’t fight 
with the others. The crusaders might have won 
much more than they did, if they had all rallied 
round one leader, as did the Saracens, who 
obeyed every command of their great Sultan 
Saladin. 

So now a part of the English waited for Rich- 
ard to get well and lead them, though quite a 
number of others made ready to help guard the 
moat. Hugh, who was not then needed in the 
royal tent, ran after these as they rode toward 
the edge of the camp. Meantime in the French 
section Raymond was hurrying about as fast as 
he could, waiting on the squires of Count Will- 
iam as they armed him. 

Of course while all these preparations were be- 
ing made to attack the city, the people shut up there 
had been watching from the walls and had not 
missed anything. Suddenly a deafening noise 
arose, and Hugh, running toward the moat, 
turned around and rushed nearer the Acre walls, 


ASSAULTING THE CITY 


41 


where the din was growing louder and louder. 
“ What’s that noise for?” he asked breathlessly 
of a French soldier who had stopped to fasten 
his helmet. 

“ Oh,” said the soldier, “ that’s the signal the 
Saracens make to tell Saladin’s troops and all 
those Egyptians and Arabians yonder that we 
are going to assault Acre. Then they will try 
to cross the moat and attack us from behind, and 
of course that always takes a lot of our men 
from fighting to get into the city. Just hear 
those infidels beating their drums and banging 
and pounding on anything that will make a 
noise! Some of them even pound on brass and 
copper cooking pots and platters ! ” 

Sure enough, as the soldier had said, Saladin’s 
troops heard the signal and rushing down from 
their camp on the hills joined their allies beyond 
the moat, and soon the din of battle drowned the 
noise in the besieged city, for at the same mo- 
ment the French army began a furious assault. 
Dragging up their huge battering-rams, they 
thumped and pounded the great walls; from the 
petraries and mangonels heavy stones were 
hurled against and over them, and from archers 
on the ground and others stationed in tall 


42 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


wooden towers wheeled up close to the city flew 
an incessant shower of arrows. 

Hugh, who had found a group of pages busy 
carrying fresh arrows to these archers, at once 
began to help too and almost ran into Raymond 
eagerly hurrying to bring a shield to one who 
had dropped his. Then the boys scampered to a 
sheltered nook behind one of the petraries, for 
they had no armor and showers of arrows and 
stones and Greek fire were pouring down from 
the walls, which the Saracens were defending 
with a desperate bravery. Hugh noticed that the 
rams were battering hardest of all against one 
tall tower in an angle of the wall, and “ Look ! ” 
he heard one of the men shout as he helped 
work the huge wooden beam, “ The old Cursed 
Tower shook that time!” For this was what the 
crusaders had named it, and they all especially 
hated it and wanted to knock it down, because it 
was said to have been built with the thirty pieces 
of silver which Judas received for betraying our 
Lord Jesus. 

But though it shook, the Cursed Tower did 
not fall; and though the French knights fought 
valiantly it was in vain they tried to scale the 
massive walls they could not batter down ; for so 


ASSAULTING THE CITY 


43 


deadly was the Greek fire poured upon them and 
so fiercely did the Saracens resist, that at last 
they were forced to retreat, having lost many of 
their number. Moreover, the fighting at the 
moat had been so violent that a large number of 
the crusaders had been obliged to leave the city 
walls and go there. All were bitterly mortified, 
especially as the Saracens, seeing them retreat- 
ing, began to jeer from the walls and to taunt 
them with cowardice; which was not true, for 
the bravest fighters in Christendom were in the 
crusading army. But to take a strongly walled 
city in those days was not an easy task. Fever 
had weakened many of the crusaders, their heavy 
armor was a burden under the burning sun of 
Palestine, but worst of all, the quarrels and dis- 
agreements of their leaders made it hard for the 
army to make headway. 

King Philip was so disappointed over the de- 
feat of his effort that his fever came back for a 
while, so with both kings sick in their tents, the 
besieging army settled down to comparative 
quiet. That is, they delayed making another 
assault, but at intervals, every day and night, 
the big battering-rams pounded away, and now 
and then a shower of stones would be hurled 


44 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


over the walls by the other machines. Hugh 
and Raymond were much interested in these, 
especially one that belonged to the French army 
and that Philip had named “ Bad Neighbor.” 

“Do you see,” said Hugh one day as they were 
watching this send a huge stone into the city, 
“the Acre people have set up a petrary on top 
of the wall almost as big as Bad Neighbor?” 

“ Yes,” said a crusader coming with his arms 
full of stones, “ and do you know what the 
heathen call theirs? — ‘ Bad Kinsman! ’ ” 

Here, “ Hark ! ” cried Raymond, “ that’s a 
herald ! Hear his trumpet ? ” 

Everybody stopped working the fighting ma- 
chines and stared at a queer little procession 
coming through the camp. “ Well, what’s 
that? ” exclaimed Hugh in bewilderment; but as 
nobody could tell, both boys hurried off to find 
out. 

“ It’s an English herald ! ” said Raymond as 
they ran along. 

“ Yes,” said Hugh, “and there’s a big Saracen 
behind him carrying a white flag, and then come 
six black men with white turbans, some bringing 
baskets, and some goatskins like the water- 
carriers do in this country.” 


ASSAULTING THE CITY 


45 


The tall, dark figures, looking neither to right 
nor left, followed the herald, who cleared a path 
for them, announcing that they came on a peace- 
ful errand from the Sultan Saladin. Straight 
on they went toward the quarters of King Rich- 
ard, seeing which, Hugh sprang after them and 
flew as fast as his legs would carry him to his 
master’s tent, reaching it just as the strangers 
disappeared within one close by. 

Raymond, who had hurried after him and was 
waiting near by, hoping Hugh would come out 
and tell him the news, soon began to hear the 
soldiers talking, for nothing was long kept 
secret from the camp. “Well! if that don’t 
beat everything ! ” said one. 44 They say that 
heathen Saladin has sent cold sherbets and the 
finest fruit to * The Malek Ric ! ’ ” 

“ Who’s that ? ” asked a soldier who had not 
been long with the army. 

“ Why, that’s what those Saracens call King 
Richard. 4 Malek ’ is their heathenish name for 
king, and I suppose 4 Ric ’ is as near as they can 
come to Richard. It’s got to be a sort of nick- 
name for him here.” 

44 That Saladin can’t be such a bad fellow,” re- 
plied the other. 44 1 heard my master say the 


46 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


other day that if he would turn Christian, he 
would make a fine honorable knight.” 

Here Hugh came out of the tent, and Ray- 
mond, knowing nothing had escaped him, ran 
to him, asking, “ Did Saladin really send things 
to King Richard ? ” 

“Yes, indeed!” answered Hugh. “They 
wouldn’t let anybody in the king’s tent, but took 
them to the one near it and I got right by the 
door and saw it all. Those goatskins were full 
of sherbet packed in snow from the top of the 
mountains, and the baskets heaped with the finest 
fruit you ever saw! The black men were slaves 
from Nubia, and their leader brought a message 
from the sultan saying he was sorry ‘ The 
Malek Ric ’ was sick and that he didn’t want 
him to die like a slave in his tent, but to get well 
so he could fight him in the open field. And he 
said he’d send him dainties every day till he was 
all right. The herald interpreted for them; you 
know he can speak their language.” 

“ Whew ! ” exclaimed Raymond, “ wasn’t that 
fine of Saladin! ” as Hugh paused, enjoying his 
importance as news-dealer, for others had gath- 
ered around to listen. 

“ Yes/’ he went on, “ King Richard was 


ASSAULTING THE CITY 


47 


mightily pleased when one of his knights 
went in and told him, and he sent a message 
of thanks to the sultan and ordered presents 
given to all the slaves. And then I heard 
that he drank a cup of the sherbet right away 
to show his contempt for the opinion of some 
of the knights who thought the things might 
be poisoned. He said Saladin might be an 
infidel, but he was as honorable as any knight in 
our army.” 

And this was quite true. Both Saladin and 
Richard were brave fighters and generous foes 
and greatly admired one another, though they 
had never met; and it really seemed a pity that 
fate had made them enemies when in many ways 
they might have enjoyed each other’s friendship. 


CHAPTER V 


THE FALL OF ACRE 

Of the two kings whom we left in bed in the 
last chapter, Philip, who was least ill, crept out 
first and turned his attention to the building of 
more fighting machines, besides seeing that Bad 
Neighbor was kept in repair, for it was often 
broken to pieces by Bad Kinsman, which had 
the advantage of hurling stones from the high 
wall. Richard also, who was slowly recovering, 
though unable to be up, was having more ma- 
chines got ready, and the two pages never tired 
of watching their progress. Always, too, some 
parts of the city walls were being battered by 
different sections of the army. 

“ I don’t see how those walls stand so much 
pounding!” said Raymond one morning as the 
two boys were looking on. 

“ I don’t either ! ” replied Hugh. “ The Duke 
of Burgundy and Duke Leopold both have their 
48 



yy 


HUGH RAN FORWARD AND PULLED UP THE DART 















/ 




























THE FALL OF ACRE 


49 


machines going today, and when I came out of 
King Richard’s camp the Knights of the Temple 
were dragging theirs around to the other side of 
that old Cursed Tower.” 

Here the boys passed close to a great wooden 
stone-throwing machine at one side of which 
stood a priest in black robe droning out, “ God 
save the Holy Sepulchre! Come up and pay 
your pence for the Petrary of God ! ” For this 
was the name of the machine, which had been 
built at the common expense of the whole army; 
and always the priest stood there to preach and 
collect money to repair it when damaged by the 
enemy. The two lads had gone only a short dis- 
tance beyond this when suddenly they sprang back 
with startled exclamations as an arrow whizzed 
past, a few paces in front, and buried its point 
in the earth. Though they had been warned not 
to go too near the city walls, they had grown 
rather reckless, and now they glanced up sharply 
to see if any more were coming; but as the sky 
seemed clear, Hugh ran forward and pulled up 
the dart still quivering in the ground. 

“ See ! ” he cried in surprise, “ it has a folded 
piece of parchment fastened to it, and something 
written on the outside of it! ” He and Raymond 


50 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


screwed up their faces and examined it w r ith 
puzzled eyes, till at last, “ Pshaw ! ” he said, 
“what’s the use! We can’t read it! Let’s take 
it to the priest yonder ; he ought to be able to ! ” 
For there were no regular schools in those days 
and, aside from monks and priests, few people, 
even those of noble rank, could read or write. 

The boys hurried over to the Petrary of 
God and showed the carefully folded bit of 
parchment to the priest, explaining to him how 
it had come. The priest, after making out the 
direction on the outside, did not venture to un- 
fold it, but holding it tightly in his hand, said, 
“ This is evidently a message to the king of 
England, for his name is written on it. It is 
strange who could have sent it in such a way 
from the city yonder.” 

“ Well,” said Hugh impatiently, “ give it to 
me and I will take it to him.” 

“Not so fast, boy,” answered the priest, “such 
a message as this is too important to trust to any 
stray lad. We must find some trustworthy 
soldier.” 

At this Hugh’s face flushed, and drawing him- 
self up proudly, “ Sir priest,” he said, “ I would 
have you know I am no ‘ stray lad,’ but one of 


THE FALL OF ACRE 


51 


King Richard’s own pages. Here are his three 
leopards worked on my sleeve ! ” 

The priest, who did not see very well, now 
looked Hugh over more carefully and knew 
from the leopards the boy spoke the truth, for 
no one not in the service of the king would dare 
display them. So, handing the parchment to him 
with “ W ell, well, boy, I meant no offense,” he 
went on with his droning “ God save the Holy 
Sepulchre ! ” 

Hugh, scowling darkly, received the message 
and the two boys set off at a run for the English 
camp, where, at the royal tent, they delivered it 
to one of the knights attending the sick king; 
then they hung around, waiting for any news 
that might leak out, as news generally did. And 
before long Hugh learned from one of the 
squires that the parchment really was important. 
The squire thought it gave valuable information 
that would help Richard plan his attack on the 
city. 

“ Who sent it ? ” asked Raymond. 

“ Nobody knows ! ” answered Hugh. “ King 
Richard was as surprised as anybody.” 

And it certainly seemed strange that, though 
every day or two fresh messages, always di- 


52 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


rected to King Richard, continued to arrive in 
the camp in the same way, no one ever found 
out who was the sender. It has always been 
thought, however, that it was some Christian 
captive in Acre who in some way contrived to 
shoot the arrows over the wall and who dared 
not sign his name lest, if found out by the Sara- 
cens, he should be killed. At any rate the infor- 
mation thus gained was a great help to the 
crusaders. 

By and by the continual battering of the rams 
began to tell. The machines of Philip broke 
down a small part of the wall and the Petrary 
of God knocked off a corner of the Cursed 
Tower; yet the armies were unable to enter the 
city. Meantime Richard, though still too weak 
to walk, was growing restive, and one day when 
Hugh went into his tent to carry a basket of fine 
Damascus plums from Saladin, he found the 
king sitting on the edge of his bed while two 
squires were trying to comb his tawny hair and 
beard, snarled from his long tossing with fever 
till they stood out like a lion's mane. 

Just then, as one of them struggled with a 
hard tangle, the king made a wry face, and 
“ Hugh," he said, “ come here and be my bar- 


THE FALL OF ACRE 


53 


ber. These varlets are pulling me unmerci- 
fully ! ” and his eyes snapped dangerously. The 
squires, glad to be released, handed the ivory 
combs to the page, who, though rather frightened 
at the task, was deft-handed and managed suc- 
cessfully to smooth out the tangled locks. Then 
he brought a copper basin and ewer of water and 
helped his master wash, and the knights and 
squires attending him dressed him in his linen 
tunic, cross-gartered his hose from knee to ankle, 
and put on his soft leather shoes. When Hugh 
saw them bringing out his hauberk of chain mail 
and helmet, “ Why, he is not going to try to 
fight, is he ? ” he whispered in surprise to one of 
the squires. 

“ Not exactly,” answered the squire, “ but he’s 
given orders to attack the city today. Our 
sappers are to try to undermine the wall, and if 
they can make a big enough break in it, there will 
be a general assault, and King Richard is to be 
carried on his bed to the new tower so he can 
direct the men. Run over to the pile of cushions 
yonder and bring an armful.” 

Hugh quickly obeyed and brought the cush- 
ions, which he helped arrange so the king could 
partly sit up ; then, all being ready, four knights 


54 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


took up the corners of the silken-covered bed 
and carried their royal master out of the tent 
and up the steps of the new fighting tower he 
had had built. His bed was placed on the top- 
most of its four platforms, the roof of which was 
spread with raw-hides steeped in vinegar to pro- 
tect it from fire. The tower was then filled with the 
best English archers and rolled near the city 
wall. As Hugh watched he could see that under 
it crept men dragging huge logs and all kinds 
of shovels and mining tools ; and as soon as they 
were near enough they began digging as hard as 
they could under a part of the wall by the 
Cursed Tower. As the hole grew bigger they 
propped up the earth over their heads with the 
great logs. 

Meantime, the Saracens, not dreaming that 
Richard himself was in the tower or that their 
wall was being undermined, merely supposed 
that the attack of the archers was part of the 
day’s work to which they had grown used. To 
be sure, their archers sent down showers of 
arrows in return, but if one showed himself an 
instant from behind the parapet, down he tum- 
bled, the mark of some English bowman. Pres- 
ently, when one appeared on the wall wearing 


THE FALL OF ACRE 


55 


the armor of a knight whom he had killed the 
day before, Richard’s eyes flashed, and seizing 
a cross-bow near his bed, he sent an arrow 
straight into the Saracen’s heart. The king was 
an expert with the cross-bow, and one after an- 
other a dozen or more of his shafts flew, never 
one missing its mark. 

While this was going on the petraries and 
rams had not been idle, and were banging the 
Cursed Tower as the sappers, having set fire to 
the logs in their hole under the wall, crept hur- 
riedly out. . In a little while, when the logs had 
burned through, there was a great crash as down 
fell the Cursed Tower, and the walls settled into 
the hole, leaving a wide breach. At this there 
was a loud shout from the crusaders, and the 
English knights and foot-soldiers who had been 
waiting rushed to the assault. 

But the Saracens, too, rushed to defend them- 
selves, and fierce and terrible was the battle. 
Hand to hand they fought, the swords and 
battle-axes of the crusaders dealing deadly 
blows, the archers sending their arrows in 
clouds, and all the while the petraries and cata- 
pults hurling their great stones into the city. 

But though the crusaders fought bravely, so 


56 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


did the Saracens, and they had one weapon 
which nothing could withstand, the terrible 
Greek fire. They had prepared a fresh supply 
of this, and poured it down mercilessly on the 
besieging army till at last the crusaders were 
forced to fall back. 

Hugh and Raymond, who had been anxiously 
watching the battle, drew long faces as they 
heard the trumpeters give the signal for re- 
treat. “ Oh ! ” said Hugh, “ I thought surely 
they would get in this time ! ” 

“ So did I ! ” answered Raymond. “ I be- 
lieve they could if our army had helped. I 
don’t see why they don’t work together more ! ” 

Here four knights came bringing King Rich- 
ard back on his bed, and Hugh ran to the tent. 
He was surprised, though, to see that as the 
king was carried in he did not look down-hearted, 
as he had expected, but that he seemed much 
brighter. The fact was, Richard knew that the 
day’s work had destroyed enough of the wall so 
that the crusaders could not long be kept out, 
and that the Saracens themselves must realize by 
this time how determined a foe they had and 
that they might as well surrender. 

And this was just about what happened. The 


THE FALL OF ACRE 


57 


Saracens, though they had once more forced the 
enemy to retreat, knew their own strength was 
spent; they knew also that the crusaders, while 
not entirely united, might any day make up their 
disputes and attack in a body, when they could 
not hope to withstand them; and worst of all, 
their scanty supply of food was now entirely 
gone, and Richard’s ships and army kept such 
close watch that no more could be brought to 
them by sea or smuggled in by land. So, worn 
out by their two years’ siege, they sent messen- 
gers to Saladin begging him to allow them to 
surrender, and at last he reluctantly gave his 
consent. 

It was a gaunt and sorrowful procession that 
marched out of Acre, carrying nothing with them 
save the clothes they wore. And it was a bat- 
tered and wretched city they left behind, though 
it was not entirely empty, as it still held over two 
thousand Christians whom the Saracens had kept 
captive through all the long siege. The cru- 
saders made it their first work to care for these, 
and then they strove so far as possible to clean 
and purify the city before the entrance of the 
army, which was to take place a week or more 
later. 


CHAPTER VI 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 

Ten days after its fall, the crusading army 
made its grand entry into Acre. By this time 
Richard was again able to ride Favelle, and as 
usual he led the procession. Kings, queens, and 
knights, all were magnificently dressed, and even 
the common soldiers had freshened up their 
tunics and polished their spears and shields so 
they looked very fine as they streamed through 
the crooked streets of the dingy old city. Hugh 
and Raymond, following their masters on foot, 
gazed curiously around at the queer flat-roofed 
houses of stone or plaster, all showing heavy 
doors, and their few windows closely latticed. 

Richard soon established himself, with the two 
queens and their attendants, in the largest of the 
stone houses. It had been the palace used by 
Saladin when in Acre and was built around a 
courtyard where had once been a beautiful gar- 
58 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 59 


den; tall palms and cypress trees still rose from 
it, but the flowers were withered and neglected, 
for water had been too scarce in the besieged 
city to spare any for them. Like most houses in 
Eastern countries, the palace proved much hand- 
somer within than you would have supposed 
from the plain wall without; but it was not fur- 
nished like the castles Hugh was used to at 
home, and as he followed his master to his room 
he looked in vain for chairs or beds, or tables. 
What did they sit and sleep on? Why, divans 
built against the walls and piled with cushions. 
Were there tabourettes to eat from? To be 
sure ; handsome ones, inlaid with pearl and ebony 
and silver, and trays with fine porcelain bowls 
and tiny coffee cups in holders of filigree gold 
and silver. And everywhere were magnificent 
rugs and curtains. Hugh helped bring his mas- 
ter’s belongings to him, and placed his own in a 
little alcove near by. 

Meanwhile, King Philip was not at all pleased 
to put up with a second-best place; while as for 
Duke Leopold of Austria, he was cross and 
sulky as could be because he was obliged to take 
what was left, for, stupid and conceited as he 
was, he thought himself quite as good as any 


60 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


king there; and, to prove it, that very evening 
he had his banner set up on the tower where 
floated those of Richard and Philip. 

Next morning, Hugh, who had risen early, 
heard a commotion in his master’s room. Rich- 
ard was not yet up, but already one of his 
knights had brought him word, “ Sire, Duke 
Leopold’s banner is mounted beside your own ! ” 

That was enough for the Lion Heart. 
“ What f ” he cried. “ Dares the impudent Aus- 
trian swine insult us so ? ” Then rising up in 
his bed, “Hugh!” he called, “Quick! Bring 
me water and comb ! ” For he had taken a great 
notion for Hugh’s help at his toilet. Hugh 
hurried to serve his master, who, with further aid 
from his squires, was soon dressed. One of them 
insisted on bringing him some bread and wine, 
which he quickly dispatched ; then he strode 
from the house toward the tower, followed by a 
little party of knights, all anxious to see what he 
would do. 

Hugh ran along and watched the tower as the 
king mounted the winding stair and came to the 
parapet where the banners floated. With a low 
growl as of an angry lion, he seized Duke 
Leopold’s, and tearing it from its place, flung 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 61 


it down and set his foot upon it. Everybody 
drew a long breath as he coolly came down the 
stair and returned to his quarters. 

Later in the day, when the two pages got to- 
gether, as they usually managed to, they talked it 
over. “ They say Duke Leopold is furious ! ” 
said Raymond. “ Yes,” agreed Hugh, “ but he 
knows well enough he’d better keep away from 
King Richard. It was fine the way he tore down 
that Austrian rag!” and Hugh’s eyes snapped, 
for he was proud to serve the Lion Heart, whose 
reckless boldness and bravery he ardently ad- 
mired. Some of Richard’s knights, however, 
were not so sure he had done well to trample on 
the banner as he did, for though Duke Leopold 
did not dare to do anything then, they knew 
him to be a sullen, resentful man, who would 
nurse his wrath and bide his time to do the king 
an ill turn. And Richard, though warmly loved 
by a host of admiring friends, nevertheless, by 
his proud bearing and contempt for those he 
disliked, had made numerous enemies among the 
crusaders, who could ill afford to add to the 
many quarrels among themselves. 

But though the older people kept up their dis- 
putes, the two pages continued the best of 


62 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


friends and every day found some chance to ex- 
plore the old city together. In ordinary times 
its narrow, crooked streets would have been 
crowded with just such noisy throngs as had 
gone daily among the tents beyond the moat. 
But now the boys could peer into the dark, empty 
little booths that served for shops, and into 
the deserted mosques; these were the Saracen 
churches, each with a domed roof, and beside it 
a tall, slender tower circled high up by a balcony 
where every day their priests had many times 
called the people to pray to Allah, which was 
their name for God. The dwelling-houses all 
had their flat roofs protected by low walls or 
little wooden fences, and looking at these one 
day, “ Those house-tops are queer,” said Hugh, 
“but they surely are a very good plan for a 
warm country like this.” 

“ Yes, indeed,” said Raymond, “ and Count 
William says that the people in Palestine often 
eat and sleep and do all sorts of things on their 
roofs when they are shady in the mornings and 
evenings. And they are splendid places to see 
anything going on in the street.” Sometimes the 
boys climbed the battered city walls and looked 
down at the camp, where the common soldiers 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 63 


were still quartered, and at the blue sea beyond 
them and the green mountains behind. 

Thus the crusading army rested for about 
three weeks, when more trouble began to brew. 
This time it was the lack of real friendliness 
between the two kings that began to be whis- 
pered about more boldly, though almost from the 
fall of the city it had been hinted at. And soon 
everybody knew the trouble. King Philip was 
going home! Hugh could hardly believe his 
ears when he heard one of the squires say so. 
“ What! ” he exclaimed, “ going to leave the 
crusade? How dares he? ” 

“Well,” said the squire, “ crusade or no cru- 
sade, that’s what he is going to do. I was talk- 
ing with some of the French soldiers, and they 
have their orders to get ready to go.” 

“ But why?” asked Hugh in amazement. 

“ I guess he don’t tell all his reasons to every- 
body,” said the squire, “ but he says he is sick 
and that he is needed at home. But the soldiers 
seemed to think it’s more because he’s out of 
sorts with King Richard and doesn’t like to take 
second place, as he generally has to.” And the 
squire smiled, for the Lion Heart’s followers all 
liked his high-handed way of doing things. 


64 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


That afternoon Raymond came running to the 
nook by the Cursed Tower, where the boys 
usually met, looking very woe-begone. “ Hugh,” 
he burst out, “ isn’t it dreadful that King Philip 
is going home?” 

“ Yes, indeed,” said Hugh, “ and will he take 
all the French with him?” 

“ No,” replied Raymond, “ it seems the other 
crusaders made such a fuss he has to leave ten 
thousand men under the Duke of Burgundy, and 
thank goodness, Count William is one of them, 
so I won’t have to go ! ” For the lad was really 
very much mortified that his king should desert 
the cause, and would have been heart-broken 
had he been compelled to follow him. And 
Hugh also was delighted that he would not have 
to part from his friend. 

Sure enough, a few days later the French 
king and the greater part of his army took their 
leave. As the ships sailed out of the harbor 
there came a sound of hissing from the troops 
on shore, who felt themselves deserted without 
reason; and they had begun to realize that to 
conquer the Holy Land was a thousand times 
harder task than they had supposed. But Richard 
watched in silent scorn; there was a far-away 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 65 


look in his eyes and, as the last sail disappeared, 
the smouldering fire in them seemed to leap to 
little tongues of flame. He was deeply and 
bitterly disappointed in the action of Philip; 
moreover, he was sure the latter had more rea- 
son than jealousy for going home and that he 
meant to scheme to get his French possessions 
away from him, though he had solemnly prom- 
ised to do nothing unfriendly while the crusade 
lasted. But Richard said no word of this, keep- 
ing his thoughts to himself. And as to the 
crusade, though no one saw more clearly than he 
the difficulty of the task, he still hoped that he 
might be able to take Jerusalem if only he could 
get enough soldiers. So to this end he sent mes- 
sengers on the returning ships to try and gain 
more men from his English and French domin- 
ions. 

Meanwhile, he gave orders for the host still in 
Acre to make ready to start for the holy city, 
for he knew that it would be a long march, and 
thought that if more soldiers came from home 
they could join them on the way. But to get 
things ready to move was no easy matter; for 
many of the men who had been besieging the 
city longest had grown lazy with their rest 


66 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


within it and lost their enthusiasm for going 
farther; and Duke Leopold and his Austrians 
were surly and unmanageable because Richard 
was now the head of the crusade. However, after 
many delays, all was finally arranged. The two 
queens and their ladies were to stay in the palace 
at Acre, a garrison was left to guard the city, 
and at last late in July the crusaders set out, and 
in spite of all their troubles looked very brave 
and gay. 

The white surcoats and red crosses of the 
knights gleamed in the sunlight and their flutter- 
ing banners were as bright as a garden of 
flowers. Behind these came the foot-soldiers 
marching in solid columns, then the great bag- 
gage-wagons, beside which were grouped the 
pages of the various knights. Hugh and Ray- 
mond walked together, though when the army 
paused for food and rest or to camp at night 
they separated to find and wait upon their mas- 
ters. Then at the end of the whole body of 
troops was always a guard of soldiers to pro- 
tect them from attack behind. King Richard 
had arranged also that a fleet of ships should 
sail along as the army moved and supply it with 
food. 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 67 


Thus the crusaders started off over the sands 
and beneath the hot sun that was soon to 
make their armor an intolerable burden, though 
they dared not cast it off because of the constant 
shower of arrows that day by day fell upon them 
from the Saracen hosts. For back of the long 
line of hills, which ran parallel to the narrow 
strip of coast, Saladin led a great army, moving 
as the crusaders moved. These hills were beau- 
tiful with groves of olive and fig and citron trees, 
and here and there shone the gold of oranges, 
but the soldiers of the cross had little time to 
look at them, so busy were they watching for the 
flying arrows. Though Saladin’s men outnum- 
bered Richard’s three to one, he did not wish 
to risk an open battle with the latter, but hoped 
rather to wear them out by his bands of archers, 
who would dash out on their swift Arab horses, 
shoot their volley of arrows, and rush back at a 
wild gallop. 

“ Goodness l ” cried Hugh, as a shower of 
darts fell on the men just ahead of them as they 
marched along one hot morning, “ they have so 
many arrows sticking in their chain armor, they 
look like porcupines ! ” 

“ I don’t think many are hurt who have good 


68 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


armor/’ said Raymond, “ but some who haven’t 
are hard hit! I’m thankful we have the big bag- 
gage-wagons between us and the hills yonder ! ” 

“ Our cross-bowmen seem to do more damage 
with their long bolts when they can get a chance 
at those heathen, but their Arab horses are so 
fast they’re gone before you know it ! ” said 
Hugh. 

“ Well,” said Raymond, “ they must have 
plenty of arrows to waste ! They are fairly pav- 
ing the ground with them. I’m tired of tramp- 
ing over them ! ” 

“ They’re not so bad as tarantulas, though,” 
answered Hugh. “ Look out ! There’s one 
now ! ” 

Raymond jumped aside as Hugh, spying a 
stone, promptly dropped it on the great spider. 
These tarantulas, and scorpions, too, added much 
to the hardships of the soldiers, often creeping 
into their tents and wounding them with poison- 
ous bites. Indeed, as the crusaders toiled on day 
after day beneath the scorching sun, they found 
more and more discomforts to bear. Many at 
last tore off their heavy armor and threw it 
away, preferring to risk the Saracens’ arrows 
rather than endure it longer. Often their feet 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 69 


were torn and bleeding from the low-growing 
thorny bushes through which their way led ; and 
always they must watch for some sudden move 
of the enemy; for though Saladin did not want 
to risk a big battle, many were the whirlwind 
attacks his followers made on the less protected 
parts of the army. At such times, when King 
Richard would hear of it, he would gallop 
furiously along the lines, hurling his lance and 
wielding his great battle-ax, and always then the 
Saracens, shouting, “ The Malek Ric! ” fled be- 
fore him as fast as their Arab horses could 
carry them. 

At last the army neared Jaffa, and the two 
pages toiling along with the rest were glad. 
Raymond, limping a little from a thorn in his 
foot, listened as Hugh said, “ I heard the folks 
around King Richard’s tent talking last evening, 
and they said we’d reach Jaffa in a couple of 
days, but that tomorrow we have such a narrow 
strip of coast to march over that our army will 
have to string out, so maybe the Saracens will 
dare attack us more boldly; but the king, while 
he wants an open battle, doesn’t want one to be- 
gin till we get to a better place to fight.” 

“ I heard pretty much the same thing in Count 


70 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


William’s tent,” said Raymond. “ I guess every- 
body is warned to be on the watch tomorrow.” 

Sure enough, that night, after the herald had 
cried through the camp “ God save the Holy 
Sepulchre ! ”, the word was passed around that 
no battle was to be started on the morrow until 
they heard King Richard’s signal, two blasts on 
the trumpet, blown three times. 

Next morning the boys were all excitement as 
the army started off. The king led as usual, 
and after him rode the Knights of the Temple; 
behind these came the long line of crusaders, 
both on horse and foot, while guarding the rear 
rode the Knights of St. John. As they marched 
along the narrow coast, soon they came in sight 
of the beautiful gardens around a town named 
Assur. “ Oh, look ! ” cried Hugh, gazing at the 
wilderness of roses and jessamines and laden 
fruit trees of every kind, while shining among 
them were ripe oranges and lemons and scarlet 
pomegranates, and towering overhead rose 
clusters of stately palms. But scarcely had the 
boys begun to admire all this, when suddenly 
such a storm of arrows broke over the rear of 
the army, and even the baggage-wagons, that the 
two pages had to dodge to keep from being hit. 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 71 


It was as King Richard had guessed. The 
Sultan Saladin had decided to make a bold at- 
tack at that spot, hoping to drive the crusaders 
into the sea. He had begun on the Knights of 
St. John, as being farthest from the fiery Rich- 
ard. The knights chafed and fretted under 
their orders not to fight till the signal was given, 
and sent a messenger galloping to the king beg- 
ging permission to charge the Saracens, but 
Richard sent back word to wait for his signal. 
Thicker and thicker fell the arrows, till at last 
the brave knights could bear it no longer, and 
with a loud shout, “ For Saint George and the 
Sepulchre ! ” they dashed headlong at the foe. 

The battle thus begun, though sooner than 
Richard had planned, he at once took the lead. 
The baggage column and the pages, being or- 
dered to keep out of the way, drew off to one 
side of where the main fight was raging. Hugh 
and Raymond, aching to be in it, were obliged to 
content themselves with climbing on top of one 
of the loaded wagons and looking on; and so 
fearful a sight it grew that for a little while they 
stared in utter silence, though the din of battle 
was so great that they could scarcely have heard 
each other speak, had they tried. Led by the 


72 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


brave Saladin, on rushed the Saracens, pouring 
from the defiles of the hills with the most fright- 
ful cries. They seemed to think the more noise 
they made the more terrifying they would be. 
They beat on brazen drums, they blew on great 
trumpets, they shrieked and yelled as they swept 
on, white men, yellow men, brown and black, 
from the different countries that Saladin ruled. 
Gorgeously dressed in many stripes and colors 
and with heads wound with white or gay tur- 
bans, there seemed no end of the host from be- 
hind the hills. But the crusaders were ready 
for them. Raising their own war-cries and 
meeting them fearlessly, knights and foot- 
soldiers stood their ground bravely, dealing 
terrific blows with their heavier weapons. 

As the boys watched breathlessly, presently, 
“ Look at King Richard ! ” cried Hugh. But 
Raymond was already staring with all his might 
as the Lion Heart, mounted on Favelle, dashed 
furiously to and fro through the fight, fiercely 
swinging his battle-ax and cutting a wide path 
before him as he went. 

“ Did you ever see anything like him?” again 
exclaimed Hugh. “ You can fairly see the blue 
fire darting from his eyes, and he mows down 


ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM 73 


the Saracens like wheat in August! See how 
they fly before him ! ” 

“He is simply terrific \” replied Raymond. 
“ We saw some pretty stiff fighting around Acre, 
but King Richard was sick then. I didn’t know 
anybody could do things like that! Why, if all 
the soldiers were like him there wouldn’t be a 
Saracen left alive ! ” 

Indeed, with all his daring exploits and fame 
for bravery, never had Richard deserved the 
name of Lion Heart more truly than as he 
dashed headlong through the battle of Assur, 
dealing death with every blow, and all the while 
so skilfully directing the movements of his 
army that in the end the Saracens were utterly 
defeated. Those who remained of Saladin’s 
great host, leaving their thousands of slain 
heaped upon the shore, fled terror-stricken to the 
refuge of the hills. 

The losses of the crusaders were few com- 
pared to those of the enemy; and when the 
dead and wounded had been cared for, they 
made their camp around the walls of Assur, 
where they were to rest for a day. Richard’s 
tent was pitched in the midst of the beautiful 
gardens which luckily had been beyond the bat- 


74 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


tlefield, and Hugh gathered some of the choicest 
fruit from these and brought it on a silver salver 
to refresh his master after the hard-fought 
struggle of the day. 


CHAPTER VII 


THE KING GOES FALCONING 

It was now October and the crusading army 
had been ten days at Jaffa. They had found the 
walls broken down and much of the city de- 
stroyed; for Saladin, discouraged by his defeat 
at Assur, had not tried to hold the place, but 
rather to make it as little use as possible to 
Richard. But the latter, as soon as the soldiers 
had rested a little, had set them to work re- 
pairing the broken walls so the city might be 
a safe place for his ships to land their food. 

Hugh and Raymond and all the other pages, 
whenever at leisure, helped carry mortar and wait 
on the men. The work was going well, and one 
bright morning King Richard decided to take 
a day’s sport with his falcons. A small party 
of English and French knights, including Ray- 
mond’s master and a few squires attending them, 
went along. When they were ready to start, at 
the king’s command, the boys ran to the tent 
75 


76 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


where the royal falcons were kept and supplied 
those of the knights who had not brought their 
own birds from home. Hugh handed up 
to his master his favorite, Arrow, who sat 
proudly on King Richard’s wrist. As was the 
custom for falcons, his head was covered with a 
tiny hood so nothing might distract his attention 
till some hawk came in sight and he was loosed 
to chase it; Arrow’s hood was of purple velvet 
tipped with a gold tassel and he held his head 
very high as he rode along. 

After the party was gone, the two pages ex- 
plored the old city for a while, then went and 
hunted shells by the seashore; and when the 
afternoon was nearly spent they sat under a fig 
tree by the road, eating its fruit and watching 
for the return of the party. 

As the boys talked and watched, the sun 
slowly sank in the west, and as dusk fell, others 
besides themselves began to look anxiously for 
the sportsmen. But it was quite dark and the 
torches had been lighted for some time in the 
camp before the falconers rode slowly into Jaffa. 
As a crowd of knights gathered about them they 
saw their pace had been slow because some of 
them were wounded. Everyone could see that 


THE KING GOES FALCONING 77 


King Richard was silent and troubled ; and when 
Raymond ran to attend Count William he could 
find him nowhere. 

One of the squires, noticing him, said, “ If 
you are looking for Count William de Pratelles, 
he is not here.” 

Raymond stared at him a moment in blank 
amazement, then, “ Where is he?” he cried. 
But the squire was already following King Rich- 
ard, so the lad hurried along with Hugh and 
turned into the courtyard of the large stone 
house where the king lodged. When Hugh 
sprang to hold his master’s stirrup, “ Lad,” said 
King Richard, “ bring writing materials to my 
room at once.” 

Hugh hastened to obey, and soon fetched the 
tip of a cow’s horn, set in silver, that served as 
inkstand, a quill pen and sheet of parchment; 
and the king, without waiting for rest or food, 
at once began to write. When he had finished 
and Hugh had brought wax and a lighted candle 
so he might seal the letter with his royal ring, the 
page’s next errand was to find and bring to the 
house a trusty messenger whom the king named. 
To him Richard gave the letter and a large 
purse of gold, ordering him to take the swiftest 


78 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


horse in camp and seek Saladin as quickly as 
possible. As soon as the messenger was gone, 
“ Hugh,” said the king, “ now get me a basin of 
water and send in a squire to brush the dust 
from my tunic.” 

When the page and squire had helped their 
master freshen up, they brought him food and 
drink. Then, bidding Hugh hand him his lute, 
he dismissed them, and soon they could hear 
soft, plaintive strains of music and the echo of a 
song. For no matter how troubled over the 
happenings of the day, the Lion Heart could 
always comfort himself thus, or, best of all, by 
the making of a new song, which he could do 
wonderfully well. 

Meantime, out in the courtyard a group of 
eager listeners had been hearing an account of 
the hawking party, from another of the squires, 
and this is what he told them : “ Things went 
all very well at first. We rode along a little 
stream and started two or three herons and 
a hawk, and the king and knights flew their fal- 
cons and had fine sport. Toward noon the sun 
got pretty hot, and we saw a wood ahead of us 
and rode into it and spread out the lunch we had 
brought. Afterward there was a little more 


THE KING GOES FALCONING 79 


sport, and then most of the party were rather 
tired and were for turning back ; you know how 
this climate is, — you can’t do things the way 
you can at home. 

“ King Richard, though, wasn’t ready to go 
back; he told the rest they could stay there and 
he would ride on a bit and see if he could start 
another hawk. You know how bold he is and 
never thinks of any danger to himself. But no 
sooner had he set off than Count William de 
Pratelles — ” 

Here Raymond could keep still no longer; 
“ Oh ! is he dead?” he asked, his eyes full of 
tears. 

“ No, lad,” answered the squire, “ at least I 
hope not; but let me go on. As I was say- 
ing, Count William and a few of the other 
knights and a couple of us squires got on our 
horses and followed after, though the king did 
not see us. Pretty soon he spied a hawk and set 
Arrow loose and galloped ahead to see the chase, 
so fast we could hardly keep him in sight. 

“ At last, when Arrow had killed the hawk, 
even King Richard seemed tired, and getting off 
his horse, threw himself down under a tree and 
[went to sleep as coolly as if there wasn’t a Sara- 


80 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


cen within a thousand miles. He slept an hour 
or more, and the afternoon was getting on, and 
we knew it would take a while to ride back to 
Jaffa, but nobody liked to wake him. 

“ In a few minutes, though, it was done for us. 
A party of Saracens suddenly burst out of a 
thicket and rushed on the king. At that he 
jumped up, half awake, and sprang on his horse 
and began slashing them with his sword. Of 
course we all hurried up to help him, and every- 
body began to fight hard, though none of us had 
anything but swords. King Richard disposed of 
at least seven of the Saracens single-handed, 
when the rest pretended to fly. But it was only 
a ruse to draw us into ambush, for they had 
probably been watching our party from the start. 
Anyhow, we had chased them only a little way 
when a big troop of heathens galloped out of 
the deep woods and surrounded our little hand- 
ful of men, far outnumbering us. 

“We were in a pretty bad fix, fighting against 
so many to one. King Richard, as usual, hacked 
away furiously with his sword. 

“They seemed to be trying to take him prisoner, 
and it looked as if nothing could save him, when 
suddenly Count William, in the thick of the fight, 


THE KING GOES FALCONING 81 


seeing how things were going, put on a dis- 
dainful air as if surprised that the heathen didn’t 
know him, and called out — you know he can 
speak their barbaric tongue — that he was ‘ The 
Malek Riel’ At this they left King Richard 
and rushed on him, which was what he meant 
them to do, for he wanted to save King Richard ; 
and the infidels took him prisoner and rode off 
so fast we couldn’t tell where they had gone.” 

Here the squire paused a moment, and a mur- 
mur of admiration for Count William rose from 
the listeners in the courtyard when they realized 
the noble sacrifice he had made; for everyone 
knew he was likely to be beheaded by the Sara- 
cens, who showed little mercy to prisoners. Poor 
Raymond, when he heard his master’s probable 
fate discussed by those about him, was not 
ashamed to burst into tears, for Count William 
had always been good and kind to him and he 
loved him much. 

But the squire went on : “ There isn’t much 
more to tell. King Richard had been fighting so 
hard he knew nothing of what Count William 
had done till it was all over, and then he was hot 
for pursuing the Saracens, no matter how many. 
But by this time it was dark and, besides, the 


82 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


heathen had scattered and gone in different 
directions, so nobody knew which way the pris- 
oner had been taken, and there was nothing left 
to do but come back here.” 

Everyone was talking of what had happened 
when Hugh hurried into the courtyard after be- 
ing dismissed by King Richard, and he soon 
learned the squire’s story from Raymond, who 
could not repress a bitter sob as he thought of 
his master’s probable cruel death. Hugh tried 
to comfort him as best he could, and, “ Come, 
stay here with me,” he said; “we can sleep to- 
gether, and I’m sure King Richard will be glad 
to have you.” 

Raymond was glad to accept the offer, and 
later on, when the boys went to the little room 
where Hugh slept, they talked long. Hugh 
knew enough to hold his tongue about his mas- 
ter’s affairs except those he was sure would make 
no difference to tell, and so had said nothing to 
anyone in the courtyard about Richard’s letter to 
Saladin. But now an idea occurred to him, and 
knowing that Raymond, too, could hold his 
tongue, he told him of the letter and purse of 
gold. “ I wondered at the time,” he said, “ why 
he was in such a hurry and what it was all about, 


THE KING GOES FALCONING 83 


but I believe now he sent the messenger to try to 
ransom Count William. And they say that even 
if he is a heathen, Saladin is such a gentleman 
and admires King Richard so much that I think 
he won’t have Count William killed, but will let 
him be ransomed.” 

Raymond quite took heart at what Hugh told 
him, and both, feeling much relieved, soon went 
to sleep. And indeed, Hugh had guessed ex- 
actly right as to what Richard had done. 


CHAPTER VIII 


MALEK ADEL VISITS RICHARD 

When the Saracens who had captured Count 
William brought him, a few days later, to the 
sultan’s camp, and he was found not to be “ The 
Malek Ric ” as they supposed, they were angry 
and wished to behead him at once. This Sala- 
din was quite willing they should do, and it was 
only the prompt arrival of the messenger, who 
had ridden at full speed, that saved him. For 
on reading Richard’s letter, Saladin at once 
granted his request to ransom Count William. 

The latter had given himself up to die, and 
great was his joy when, with a courteous fare- 
well, the sultan dismissed him and even sent 
some of his own soldiers to escort him safely 
back to the crusaders’ camp; for when not ac- 
tually fighting, both the king and the sultan and 
the nobles in both armies were chivalrous enough 
to behave most politely to one another. 

Of course on his return, more than a week 
84 


MALEK ADEL VISITS RICHARD 85 


after his capture, Count William received a 
warm welcome, and Raymond was delighted to 
have his master to serve once more. Count 
William was surprised, however, to find the 
crusaders still resting in Jaffa, for he knew the 
king was anxious to go on. 

The two pages also used to wonder why they 
delayed there. They could not know how hard 
Richard had tried to move the common soldiers, 
many of whom had grown lazy, as at Acre, 
with the easy life at Jaffa. Nor could they know 
all the jealousy and opposition he met with from 
the leading knights, the Dukes of Burgundy and 
Austria, and even the chiefs of the Knights of 
the Temple and of St. John. And most difficult 
and irritating of all was a great quarrel going 
on between two powerful nobles, Conrad of 
Montferrat and Guy of Lusignan, as to which 
should be called king of Jerusalem; which 
seemed particularly silly, as Jerusalem was yet to 
be taken by the crusaders and the task looked 
every day more impossible. Nevertheless, Con- 
rad, who had a large number of followers, was 
very angry because Richard favored Guy’s 
claims instead of his own, and it was even said 
that he had turned traitor to the cause and 


86 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


offered to join his forces with Saladin in fight- 
ing the king. 

But though our pages could not know all of 
Richard’s troubles, the camp was full of rumors 
of them; and everyone knew that a messenger 
had come from the sultan to arrange a meeting 
between the latter’s brother, Malek Adel (which 
means King Adel), and King Richard, and that 
it was to talk about possible terms of peace. 
For Saladin thought perhaps the English king 
might now be willing to listen to such. 

On the day Malek Adel was to come, Hugh 
helped carry his master’s royal tent to one of 
the finest gardens outside the walls of Jaffa. 
When all was ready and Richard, handsomely 
dressed and attended by a group of knights, in- 
cluding Count William, waited for his visitor, 
Hugh went out, and soon joined by Raymond, 
the two sat in the shade of a pomegranate bush 
and watched the road from the hills. Presently 
a party of horsemen came in sight; as they drew 
nearer, “ Look ! ” said Hugh, “ that one in the 
middle must be Malek Adel! What a splendid 
purple mantle all glittering with gold! And 
what gorgeous trappings all the horses have 


MALEK ADEL VISITS RICHARD 87 


“ And see ! ” cried Raymond, “ there comes 
a string of camels, seven of them ! Do you sup- 
pose they are a present ? ” 

“ I guess so,” replied Hugh, as the boys 
sprang up and stood ready for any service. 
Hugh had hoped to hold the bridle-rein or stir- 
rup of Malek Adel as he dismounted, but as he 
and the two nobles with him were attended by 
their own Nubian slaves there was nothing for 
the pages to do but look on as the English king, 
stepping to the door of his tent, received his 
visitors with the utmost courtesy. After this 
greeting Malek Adel presented to King Richard 
the camels he had brought, and directed a slave 
to unroll a package from the back of one of 
them. This second gift proved to be a magnifi- 
cent silken tent, which King Richard at once or- 
dered to be pitched in the garden so all might 
see its beauty. After it had been duly admired, 
and the party had entered the royal one already 
prepared for them, at a signal from one of the 
squires Hugh went in and passed around sherbet 
and fruit and sweetmeats on silver trays. 

When he was dismissed and joined Raymond 
again, “ Those Saracen lords certainly are good- 
looking,” he said, “ and my ! such splendid robes 


88 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


and turbans and mantles! You know King 
Richard likes handsome clothes himself, and I’m 
glad he had on that brocaded mantle of his and 
one of his best embroidered tunics. ,, 

“ What do you suppose he will do with all 
those camels ? ” asked Raymond. 

“ I don’t know,” said Hugh. “ They might 
carry his baggage on the march, but they look 
so fine with their red harnesses and all those 
little silver bells and gay saddle cloths that I 
don’t believe they’re meant for anything but 
riding on, and of course that wouldn’t suit King 
Richard.” 

Meantime, while the boys were talking, much 
more important affairs were discussed within the 
royal tent. But though, when Malek Adel left, 
no peace terms had been reached, nevertheless a 
warm friendship had sprung up between him and 
King Richard, and after that day it was no un- 
common sight for the Saracen king to visit his 
English foe, with whom he found many tastes 
in common. And more than once, at these times, 
Hugh brought his lute to King Richard, who 
played and sang for Malek Adel ; and though the 
latter was not himself gifted to do the same in 
return, he sometimes brought with him the most 



KING RICHARD, WHO PLAYED AND SANG FOR 
MALEK ADEL ” 






MALEK ADEL VISITS RICHARD 89 


skilful of the Saracen poets and musicians to 
perform for King Richard’s pleasure. Some of 
the crusaders did not like this friendship, but the 
king treated their opinions with his usual con- 
tempt, and when it came to battles neither he nor 
Malek Adel fought a whit less fiercely because 
they liked each other. 

Indeed, no one should have criticized the Lion 
Heart for finding a little pleasure where he 
could, for troubles were thickening around him 
fast enough. One day when the pages were to- 
gether, “ I tell you,” said Hugh, “ I’d hate to 
head this crusade! The knights are fussing 
about this and that, and if you hear the common 
soldiers talk, they will say in one breath that 
King Richard ought to lead them right away to 
Jerusalem and in the next that it’s a shame to 
make them move till they get rested. Rested! 
Why, we’ve been here weeks now! They say 
King Richard has a hot temper, but I think he’s 
been mighty patient with it all ! ” 

But at last the army was got together, and 
leaving a force to guard Jaffa, they set out for 
Jerusalem, though they little guessed the many 
hardships in store for them. It was now No- 
vember, and a season of heavy storms was be- 


90 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


ginning. As our two pages trudged day after 
day along the muddy roads, they were often 
glad to climb up on the baggage wagons to 
shield themselves from the driving rain that 
drenched them to the skin. When the camp was 
made at night, tents were blown over and every- 
thing soaked, or the tired soldiers tormented 
into wakefulness by the enemy. For the Sara- 
cens, moving as before behind the hills, had a 
way of sending a small force galloping toward 
the crusaders’ camp at night and yelling at the 
tops of their lungs; then, when the crusaders, 
rousing up, would spring to arms, off they would 
gallop again. And no matter how often this 
happened, King Richard’s army never dared not 
to get up and arm, as in the darkness they could 
never be sure how many were attacking them. 
And this was just what Saladin wanted, for in 
this way most of his soldiers could sleep peace- 
fully in their tents while King Richard’s were 
kept worried and fagged and quite worn out 
when daylight came. 

Soon, too, their food began to fail. The 
provision ships, which had followed them down 
the coast, could not land because of the storms; 
Saladin had caused the country through which 


MALEK ADEL VISITS RICHARD 91 


they passed to be laid waste, and the rains 
spoiled the food they carried with them. Hugh 
and Raymond, though for the first time in their 
lives they suffered real hunger, were proving 
good soldiers and said nothing as they munched 
their mouldy bread and drank the muddy water 
from the scanty streams they passed; for most 
of the wells had been poisoned. No wonder that 
many of the crusaders fell sick and died, and 
many more could scarcely bear the weight of 
their armor, which every day the rains rusted 
more and more. And the poor horses suffered 
as much as the men, for in the desolate fields it 
was almost impossible to find fodder for them; 
many fell exhausted by the way, and the fam- 
ished crusaders did not disdain their flesh for 
food. Thus, hungry and thirsty and footsore, 
the army toiled painfully on till at last they 
camped at a place called Ramlah. 

Every day, as Hugh had waited upon his mas- 
ter, he had found him more silent and troubled, 
even his lute seeming scarcely to comfort him. 
Indeed, as the tents were pitched at Ramlah, 
though hardly more than fifteen miles from 
Jerusalem, King Richard knew in his heart that 
never had the holy city seemed farther away. 


92 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


That evening, after Hugh had carried his scanty 
supper to him, the king bade him bring a map 
he had lately caused to be made of Jerusalem 
and the country round about. Hugh placed the 
roll of parchment on a table and by it a lighted 
candle, and left King Richard poring over it, as 
he continued to do half the night. When at 
last he laid it aside, a deep sigh broke from the 
Lion Heart as with a sad shake of his head he 
threw himself down for a few hours’ rest. 

The next morning, when Hugh went in to wait 
upon him, “ Lad,” he said, “ you need not help 
pack the tent things today. We are going no 
further now.” 

Hugh gasped, but as King Richard turned 
around with an air of dismissal, he went outside 
and sat disconsolately on a rock, wondering what 
the king meant; and thinking miserably, too, of 
the good breakfast they would be having in his 
far-away home castle and how empty his own 
stomach was, how damp and uncomfortable his 
clothes were, and how tired he was most of the 
time now. Soon he pricked up his ears, as a 
herald rode through the camp calling out that 
the army would not go on to Jerusalem then, 
but after resting two days at Ramlah would 


MALEK ADEL VISITS RICHARD 93 


march to the city of Ascalon to wait for re- 
inforcements. 

When the herald ceased, at first there was a 
blank silence, and then from the foot-soldiers 
rose a great murmur of discontent. As Hugh 
got up and walked among them he heard them 
talk. “ What ! ” said one, “ Retreat now, after 
all we have suffered? For shame !” “ Yes,” 

cried another, “ leave the Holy Sepulchre now, 
and have to endure hunger and cold and misery 
marching to Ascalon instead of Jerusalem? And 
who knows when reinforcements will come?” 
“ No,” went on another, “ I don’t believe there 
will be any ! ” 

By the next day the discontent grew worse, 
and many began to desert. In the afternoon 
Raymond came over to where Hugh sat huddled 
from the rain under a flap of the royal tent. 
“ What do you think ? ” he said. “ A lot of the 
French are going off with the Duke of Bur- 
gundy ! Some have already started. But Count 
William is loyal to King Richard and says he 
doesn’t see how he could lead the army further 
now, it’s so worn out. And on the way here I 
heard some other knights say that spies the king 
sent ahead brought back word that Saladin had 


94 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


made the walls of Jerusalem so strong it will be 
mighty hard to take.” 

“ Yes,” replied Hugh, “ I know King Richard 
has a new map of the city. He was looking at 
it nearly all night, and I guess that decided him 
to give up the march now. But I don’t believe 
anybody feels worse about it than he does. He 
looks dreadfully sad and worried.” 

It was in truth a terrible wrench for the Lion 
Heart to give up, if only for a time, the object 
for which he had sacrificed and toiled and suf- 
fered so much. But he was too great a general 
not to realize that the odds were against him; 
he had done his best, but now he must have help. 
Deserted by King Philip, his army torn by 
quarreling and worn by hunger, thirst and sick- 
ness, he could not hope to conquer the strong 
city of their dreams. He would not give up 
altogether, though, so had planned to march to 
Ascalon and there wait for the reinforcements 
he had sent for long before and which he still 
hoped would come. Besides, Ascalon was one 
of the last of the important places on the coast 
which the crusaders had not taken, and holding 
it, they could land ships with men or food al- 
most anywhere needed. 


MALEK ADEL VISITS RICHARD 95 


The march thither was full of all the hard- 
ships they had endured before, only worse; 
for now came snow and hail, too, and Hugh 
and Raymond had to wrap their little wool- 
len capes closely about them to try to warm 
their numb fingers. All were thankful when at 
last, early in January, Ascalon came in sight, 
though they saw that, as at Jaffa, Saladin had 
caused the city walls to be broken down and 
many of its houses destroyed; but enough were 
found still unharmed to shelter the king and 
chief knights, and as usual the two pages made 
themselves useful helping arrange things for 
their noble masters. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

King Richard had hoped to find some of his 
food ships at Ascalon, but though a number 
were on the way there, several had gone to the 
bottom in the hard storms and the rest were 
unable to land. Every day Hugh and Raymond 
went down to the wharf, hungrily watching for 
these ships, but it was over a week before they 
could sail into the harbor. “ Good ! ” cried 
Hugh, who first spied them, “ There they come ! 
I hope they have plenty on board! I feel as if 
I could eat a whole sheep and several loaves of 
bread all by myself ! ” 

“ So do I ! ” answered Raymond, as they ran 
to see the vessels unload. 

When everybody had enough to eat again and 
had rested a little from their hard march, they 
were much better humored, and King Richard 
set himself to work to coax them to make up 
their many quarrels and be friends; for he 
96 


THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 97 


knew that unless all the crusaders were united 
they could never hope to capture Jerusalem. He 
even sent messengers to ask the Duke of Bur- 
gundy to come back with all the French troops 
he had taken away, and this the jealous duke at 
last consented to do. 

The next thing King Richard undertook 
was to rebuild the broken walls of the city, 
and as these were very large he knew it 
would take a long time unless everybody helped ; 
so he commanded all, from the noblest knight to 
the commonest foot-soldier, to go to work, set- 
ting the example himself by seizing a trowel 
and mixing up mortar and starting to lay stones 
as hard as ever he could. Count William went 
to work near the king, and soon nearly every- 
body was busy, Hugh and Raymond hurrying 
about helping mix and carry mortar, and often 
laying some of the smaller stones themselves. 

The army had been working thus for several 
days when Hugh said to Raymond, “ Seems to 
me everyone who is able is working on these 
walls except those Austrian soldiers and their 
Duke Leopold. I’d like to know what’s the mat- 
ter with them and if they think they’re any bet- 
ter than King Richard and the rest of us ! ” 


98 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


“Look!” said Raymond. “There comes Duke 
Leopold now! I wish King Richard would do 
something to him ! ” 

And Raymond was not disappointed ; for 
just then the Lion Heart, working at a gap in 
the wall near by, glanced up and saw the duke 
as he strolled idly along. “ Halt ! ” cried the 
king instantly, as his eyes flashed. The other, 
staring, paused sulkily. “ Now, sir,” said King 
Richard, “ get a trowel and go to work like the 
rest of the army ! ” 

But Leopold only tossed his head and replied 
haughtily, “ I am the son of neither a carpenter 
nor a stone mason that I should work like a 
common laborer ! ” With this he tried to pass 
on, but Richard was too quick for him. Without 
another word he pounced upon him, and seizing 
the proud duke’s burly shoulders, thrust him out 
through the gap in the wall, helping him along 
with a sound kick. Everybody near looked on 
open-mouthed as the king, calmly picking up his 
trowel, went on with his work as though nothing 
had happened. 

Hugh and Raymond, peeping through the gap, 
could hardly keep from laughing as Leopold, 
amazed at finding himself thrown out of the 


THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 99 


city, and afraid to touch the Lion Heart, at last 
gathered himself together and stalked off in a 
towering rage. “ Of course King Richard has 
been trying to keep things peaceful,” whispered 
Hugh, “ but I guess that stupid Duke Leopold 
was just too much for him! You know how he 
detests him ! ” 

“ Yes,” said Raymond, “ and I don't blame 
him! I suppose Leopold will go home now, but 
I don’t think he or his Austrians will be much 
loss.” 

Evidently Richard thought the same way, for 
he gave orders for the duke and all his followers 
who were lodged in the city to camp outside the 
walls they would not help build, for he said they 
had no right to any protection from them. And 
as soon as they could get ready to leave, they set 
off for Austria as fast as they could go, Leopold 
still raging and biding his time to pay King 
Richard back. 

Day by day the broken walls rose higher and 
higher; though Richard looked in vain for the 
reinforcements he longed for. Saladin, too, 
camped as usual behind the hills, was waiting for 
fresh troops, and there was a truce between the 
two armies. As was their custom when not 


100 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


really fighting, the king and sultan behaved to 
each other with the greatest friendliness; and as 
the weather grew better toward spring, the 
armies would often have parades and tourna- 
ments, in which the knights and nobles of both 
sides took part. As the two pages were watch- 
ing a tournament one day, “ Doesn’t it seem 
funny,” said Raymond, “how friendly every- 
body is between fights ? ” 

“ Yes,” replied Hugh, “ and the sultan and 
King Richard give each other lots of presents, 
all kinds of things. I’m glad when I see Sala- 
din’s black slaves coming to the door, for they 
always bring something pleasant, and that’s more 
than can be said for the Christian messengers 
who have been coming lately.” 

“ What do you mean ? ” asked Raymond. 

“ Well,” said Hugh, “ a messenger came from 
England a while ago, and another one yesterday ; 
they bring big parchment letters all covered with 
wax seals, and when King Richard reads them 
he looks worried to death. I’m sure he has been 
getting bad news from home.” 

And this was quite true. Richard had been 
getting the worst kind of news from home. Let- 
ters from his mother and friends urged him to 


THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 101 


return and save his kingdom, which his own 
brother John was trying to get away from him. 
They told him also that King Philip, in spite of 
his solemn promises to do nothing against Rich- 
ard while he was away, had broken his word and 
invaded Normandy. All these evil tidings were 
hard for the Lion Heart to bear after all his 
misfortunes and suffering in the Holy Land. 
He was really in a very trying position. Though 
he had never lost a battle, everything had gone 
against him. He could not bear to go away and 
leave Jerusalem unconquered; neither could he 
afford to lose his kingdom. Then, too, if he re- 
turned to England, he knew he must leave some 
leader strong enough to hold what the crusaders 
had already won; and Richard could not but 
admit that the man who could do this best was 
Conrad of Montferrat. You remember this was 
the Conrad who was disputing with Guy of 
Lusignan about being king of Jerusalem. The 
quarrel had been going on for months, and 
everybody took sides one way or another. In- 
deed, if any crusader had nothing else to start 
a quarrel, he could always succeed by beginning 
to argue about Guy and Conrad. For though 
the walls of Jerusalem were still unshaken, all 


102 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


still hoped that they would soon take the city; 
and if they did, of course it would be very im- 
portant to be its king. 

Richard thought it over, and at. last, though 
much against his will, decided to allow Conrad 
to be called king of Jerusalem; for he could not 
be crowned without Richard’s consent. He de- 
spised Conrad’s treachery in offering to join 
Saladin, but felt sure that if he won in the 
quarrel with Guy, he would come back to the 
crusaders, whom he could hold together better 
than anyone else. Richard decided also to make 
up for Guy’s disappointment by giving him the 
island of Cyprus, which he had taken away from 
King Isaac on his way to Acre. He then made 
his plans to return to his kingdom and overcome 
his enemies in England and France so that he 
might start another crusade; for he could not 
give up hope of some day conquering Jerusalem. 

Having made up his mind, Richard sent his 
nephew, Count Henry of Champagne, sailing up 
the coast to the city of Tyre, of which Conrad 
had made himself master, to tell him he was to 
be crowned king of Jerusalem. It was very 
ridiculous that he had to be crowned in Tyre 
because the city of which he was called king was 


THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 103 


still held by the Sultan Saladin; but nobody 
seemed to see it that way. 

When the camp knew Richard’s decision, there 
was a great deal of discussion. They were still 
talking about it when, scarcely two weeks later, 
there came sailing into port the same royal gal- 
ley that had taken Count Henry to Tyre, and a 
messenger quickly landed and hurried to the 
quarters of the king. Having delivered his mes- 
sage first to Richard, he came into the courtyard, 
and soon all there knew the word he brought, 
for it was no secret. Conrad, before he could be 
crowned, had been killed by order of The Old 
Man of the Mountain. Before long the whole 
camp had heard it, and if tongues had wagged 
before, now they were buzzing twice as busily. 

Hugh was burning with curiosity and longed 
for a chance to ask the messenger more; so he 
was glad when presently food was made ready 
and he was sent to bid the man into the house 
and serve him while he ate. The moment he had 
finished, “ Sir,” he said, “ will you please tell 
me who is ‘ The Old Man of the Mountain? ’ ” 

“ Gracious ! ” exclaimed the messenger, “ have 
you just come to this country that you have 
never heard of him? ” 


104 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


“ No,” said Hugh, “ I’ve been here a good 
while, and I’ve heard his name and asked the 
soldiers about him once or twice, but they 
seemed almost afraid to talk of him, so I never 
found out much.” 

“Well,” replied the messenger, “nobody knows 
so very much about him, I guess because no- 
body wants to go very near to find out. All 
the crusaders call him ‘ The Old Man of the 
Mountain/ but the Saracens, who know more 
than we do of the heathenish people over here, 
say his real name is Senan, and that he is chief 
of a tribe called Ismaelians, who live up on 
Mount Lebanon. They say he has a splendid 
castle up there, with wonderful gardens and 
fountains, and that he has gold and jewels and 
clothes and things to eat fit for a king. And no 
wonder, for he has had enough people robbed 
and killed to get most anything he wants.” 

“ Mercy ! ” cried Hugh, “ can’t anybody stop 
him?” 

“ No,” said the messenger, “that’s not so easy. 
He’s no ordinary bandit, and he doesn’t do the 
work himself, either; he’s too high and mighty 
for that. They say he takes boys from the tribe 
and trains them in his castle till they grow up, 


THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 105 


and he gives them a queer kind of drug that 
makes them do anything he tells them to. So 
if he orders them to kill anybody, they will 
surely do it, if it takes them years to get a 
chance. Everybody in this country knows a 
man’s life isn’t worth a fig if the Old Man of 
the Mountain wants him put out of the way. 
So you see it isn’t so easy to get rid of The 
Old Man. It’s not like fighting an open battle; 
he does everything so secretly, and has so many 
people to obey him, that nobody who makes an 
enemy of him knows what minute he may have 
a dagger thrust into him as Conrad did.” 

Hugh shivered. “Did he rob Conrad?” he 
asked. 

“ No,” said the messenger, “ he doesn’t always 
kill for robbery. People in Tyre think there was 
some quarrel between them. And what do you 
suppose The Old Man did? Six months ago he 
sent to Tyre two of the young men he had 
trained, and they were ordered to kill Conrad. 
They disguised themselves as monks, pretended 
they were good Christians, and made friends 
with some of the best people in the city, all the 
while watching for a chance to get at Conrad.” 

“ Did nobody suspect them?” asked Hugh. 


106 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


“ Not a soul,” replied the messenger. “ They 
went to church and behaved so piously that 
everybody thought they were all right.” 

“ How did they get Conrad at last ? ” again 
asked Hugh. 

“ Well,” said the messenger, “ it was the night 
after Count Henry came, and Conrad and his 
friends were tremendously pleased that he was 
to be king of Jerusalem. The Bishop of Beau- 
vaise gave a fine dinner for him, and as he was 
riding back to his house, suddenly the two false 
monks sprang at him, stabbing him with their 
daggers so he fell dying from his horse.” 

Hugh shuddered again, and said, “ Did they 
catch the young men ? ” 

“ Oh, yes, to be sure,” replied the other, “ the 
people around soon caught them, and made short 
work of them without much trouble. The Old 
Man of the Mountain tells all his followers that 
if they lose their lives in obeying his wicked 
orders, they will go straight to Paradise and 
have the grandest kind of a time. And the 
miserable wretches believe everything he says, so 
when they have carried out his commands, they 
don’t seem to mind it at all if they get killed 
themselves.” 


THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN 107 


Here the messenger got up and stretched him- 
self. “ Well/’ he said, “ I suppose King Rich- 
ard will have to pick out another king for 
Jerusalem. Meantime I must go aboard the 
galley, for we are to sail back to Tyre whenever 
he gives the order.” 

That night, when Hugh went to bed, he 
dreamed of disguised monks and Old Men of 
the Mountains till he was thankful to wake up 
and find himself still alive and the sun shining. 


CHAPTER X 


THE HILL OF HEBRON 

It was now May, and in the gardens of Asca- 
lon the peach and apricot trees were laden with 
young fruit, while the roadsides shone with scar- 
let anemones and golden poppies. The crusading 
army, rested and no longer hungry, took cheer; 
but all the beauty around him could not comfort 
the troubled spirit of King Richard. The news 
from home was still as bad as ever, but he had 
been obliged to put off his return there for an- 
other year. Even before the death of Conrad 
the crusaders had been unwilling for him to 
leave them, and he felt he could not do so now. 
For though he had chosen Count Henry of 
Champagne to be called king of Jerusalem, he 
knew that if left to head the crusade, the count, 
with all his bravery and loyalty, lacked power 
to settle the hard questions that were always 
coming up. 

And one of the hardest of these was worrying 
108 


THE HILL OF HEBRON 


109 


Richard right then. The army was demanding 
to be led once more to Jerusalem; and while of 
course the taking of the city and rescue of the 
Holy Sepulchre was the great thing for which 
he had come, he knew far better than the rest 
how impossible it was to hope to do it then. 
The reinforcements he had waited for had not 
come, though Saladin’s army had all the while 
grown bigger and stronger. Richard foresaw 
that while the crusaders, full of fresh hope and 
courage, might start again for the holy city, as 
they drew near they would find the same hard- 
ships they had found before, and they would 
have neither the strength nor numbers to at- 
tempt a long siege of its strong walls. When a 
leader so bold and of such heroic bravery as 
the Lion Heart hesitated to undertake the thing 
he most cared to do, the rest of the crusaders 
should have known he had the best of reasons. 
But they would listen to nothing, and at last de- 
clared that if Richard would not lead them they 
would go by themselves. 

At this the king yielded, though against his own 
judgment ; perhaps he thought the only way was 
to let them find out for themselves how it would 
turn out. At any rate, having decided to go, he 


110 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


made preparations with all his usual energy. 
Hugh was sent flying here and there on many 
errands, provisions were got together, knights 
rode out to gather in the straggling foot-soldiers, 
and when all was ready, one bright Sunday 
morning they set off. 

As our two pages marched along together they 
could not help but feel full of hope and cheer. 
For the first week or more the country was green 
and flowery, they had plenty to eat, fresh 
streams to drink from, and, best of all, the 
crusaders, happy in being once more on the road 
to Jerusalem, seemed to have laid aside their 
quarrels for the time and showed each other the 
greatest kindness. “ There ! ” said Hugh one 
morning, “ that’s the third knight today I’ve 
seen get off his horse so a sick foot-soldier can 
ride it!” 

“ Yes,” said Raymond, “ and haven’t you 
noticed how the rich share their money with the 
poorer ones in the army so they can buy things 
they need? Everybody seems to be trying to be 
as good as they can ! ” 

But this pleasant state of affairs did not last 
long. As they went farther and farther from 
the seashore, so the ships could no longer sup- 


THE HILL OF HEBRON 


111 


ply them, food again became scarce, for it took 
a great deal for so many men. As they drew 
nearer Jerusalem, again they found the whole 
country laid waste, not even providing enough 
for the horses, while the streams failed and no 
one dared to drink from the poisoned wells. And 
the hungrier and thirstier they became, the 
harder it was to bear the heat of the Palestine 
sun. Hotter and hotter it blazed, till, as before, 
many fell sick and died, while still more began 
to straggle off and desert. 

At last, after the greatest hardships and suf- 
fering, the worn-out army managed to reach 
Hebron, this time only seven miles from the 
holy city. That sounds very near, but to Rich- 
ard with his famished and footsore men it 
seemed a long way yet; and seeing the utter 
hopelessness of it all, he determined to camp 
there a few days, until he and the chief knights 
could decide whether to go on, for he wanted 
them to see for themselves how matters were. 

Hugh, as he attended his master on the march, 
had seen each day how more and more troubled 
he grew, and as they camped there at Hebron 
his heart fairly ached for him. When he carried 
in his supper, which Richard scarcely touched, 


112 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


he found him sitting with his head bowed on his 
hands, and as he raised his fearless blue eyes that 
had been so full of high hopes and dreams, the 
lad could not but be struck with the disappoint- 
ment and misery in them. Indeed, one can only 
guess what the lion-hearted king must have suf- 
fered, knowing at last that he must give up the 
dream he had cherished for years, for which he 
had worked and planned and fought, had sacri- 
ficed his fortune and almost his kingdom. Bit- 
ter, bitter must have been his thoughts of Philip, 
who had deserted him, of the quarrels and mis- 
fortunes that had divided and diminished his 
army, and the thousand and one things that, in 
spite of all his boldness and courage and military 
skill, now forced him to leave Jerusalem still 
unconquered, the Holy Sepulchre still in the 
hands of the infidels. For he knew that the 
knights whom he had asked to help him decide 
whether to go on must at last agree with him 
that it was quite hopeless. 

The next day a group of soldiers were talking 
and Hugh heard one of them say, “ I saw one 
of the spies the king sent ahead to get news 
of the city, — you know he sent out spies the 
other time, too, — this one came back this 


THE HILL OF HEBRON 


113 


morning, and he says the walls of Jerusalem are 
stronger than ever. It seems last winter, while 
we were waiting for reinforcements, everybody 
from the sultan down worked on the walls, just 
as King Richard and the rest of us did at Asca- 
lon. Saladin even brought stones for them on 
the back of his fine horse ; and as the walls were 
tremendously strong to begin with, now nobody 
could take the place, except maybe by a long 
siege, and we are in no shape for that ! ” 

“I should think not!” said another standing 
by. “We would starve to death ourselves long 
before we could starve out those heathens by a 
siege ! ” 

“ They say Saladin has an enormous army,” 
put in a third, “ and if we tried to besiege the 
city with our few men, he could swing around 
behind us, and then where would we be ? ” 

For even the common soldiers now could be- 
gin to see some of the things Richard had fore- 
seen at the beginning of the march. And when 
the knights he had called together talked over 
everything, they agreed, as he knew they must, 
that it would be death for the army to try to 
take the city. Like many crusaders before and 
after them, they had at last learned the bitter 


114 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


truth that to conquer Jerusalem was a task to 
baffle the boldest, and a thousand times harder 
than it had seemed to their eager hearts as they 
had set off from their far-away homes. And 
hardest of all it was to give up their dream of 
rescuing Christ’s tomb when they had marched 
almost in sight of it ! 

Indeed, only a few miles from Hebron there 
was a hill from which Jerusalem could be 
plainly seen. The afternoon of the day it was 
decided to turn back, Richard ordered Favelle to 
be brought to his tent door, and Hugh held the 
bridle while he mounted; and then, attended by 
Count William and a few other knights and 
squires, he rode off in the direction of this hill. 

“ Do you suppose they are going to look at 
Jerusalem? ” asked Raymond, who had run over 
to talk to Hugh. 

“Yes,” said Hugh, “I think King Richard 
wants to see it even if he has to give up tak- 
ing it. Oh, isn’t it just a shame the way things 
have turned out ! I had no idea when we started 
that a crusade was such a hard thing ! ” 

“ Neither had I,” replied Raymond, “ and I 
do wish we could go on, — but,” he added with 
a sigh, “ it would seem mighty nice to have 


THE HILL OF HEBRON 


115 


enough to eat again, and all the fresh water we 
want to drink! I’m sick of these muddy, brack- 
ish brooks around here ! ” for he was very 
thirsty. 

“ So am I,” agreed Hugh, “ and sick of eating 
dead horses! ” for he was very. hungry. 

“ I wish we could go over to that hill and see 
the city,” said Raymond. 

“ We could walk the few miles easily enough,” 
replied Hugh, “ but we wouldn’t have time today 
before they got back, and they might want us for 
something. But likely we can find a chance to- 
morrow.” 

A few hours later, when Richard and his party 
returned, Hugh ran to take Favelle, and the king 
walked into his tent with such a far-away look 
in his eyes that he seemed not to hear as the 
knights took leave of him. The next morning 
both the pages asked permission, which was 
readily granted, to go to the hill, though Hugh 
was puzzled at King Richard’s answer when he 
inquired if one could really see the city from 
there. “ So they say, lad,” replied the king 
absently, with such a strange expression in his 
face the page dared not ask more. But when 
he and Raymond set off together, “ Raymond,” 


116 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


he said, “ didn’t they go to look at the city 
yesterday ? ” 

“ Yes,” answered Raymond, “ but what do 
you think Count William told some knights who 
came to the tent last evening while I was fixing 
his bed? He said that as they rode toward the 
hill the king hardly spoke a word, but seemed 
thinking things over all to himself. Then at last, 
when they reached the highest point, from which 
he says you can see the city quite distinctly, one 
of the squires, who had been there before, led 
Favelle to the best place to look at it, and they 
all reined their horses to one side so as not to 
interfere with the king’s view. And then, while 
they waited for him to take the first look, King 
Richard — he had been riding with his head 
bowed — made as if he would raise his eyes, 
then suddenly he dropped his head again and 
lifted his shield before his face. You know 
they all wore their armor and had their swords 
and shields along.” 

" What ? ” exclaimed Hugh, “ didn’t he look 
at all ?” 

“ No,” replied Raymond,* “ that’s the strange 
part of it. It seemed as if, when it came right 
to the point, much as he wanted to see Jerusalem, 



u t 


LIFTED HIS SHIELD BEFORE HIS FACE 

































THE HILL OF HEBRON 


117 


he couldn’t quite stand it. Count William, who 
was nearest to him, said he heard him say in a 
low tone, as if talking to himself, something 
about how, since God had held him unworthy to 
conquer the city and rescue the Holy Sepulchre, 
he felt himself unworthy to look at it. Anyway, 
still holding the shield before his eyes as if he 
was afraid he might look in spite of himself, he 
turned his horse around and quietly waited till 
the others had seen what they wanted, and then 
rode back without another word.” 

Hugh was silent a few moments, and then he 
said slowly, “ Well, that was just like him. You 
know, besides being a tremendous fighter, he’s a 
poet, too, and I’ve heard that poets feel things 
like that more than other people. He must be 
frightfully disappointed, especially as he hasn’t 
been beaten in a single battle here. It’s just 
that everything else has gone against him ! ” 

As the boys talked they were all the while go- 
ing along as fast as they could, and before long 
had reached and climbed the hill to its highest 
point. But as they stood with eager eyes gazing 
on the distant city of Jerusalem, the chatter on 
their lips died away. The towers and domes 
shone in the sunlight, and the great walls girdling 


118 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


the city about showed how strong a fortress it 
was. In all the long months, almost a year, 
since they had landed at Acre, every night the 
herald had cried through the camp, “ God save 
the Holy Sepulchre ! ” and now, somewhere 
within those frowning walls on which they 
looked, was the tomb for the sake of which 
they had toiled and suffered so much; and boys 
though they were, the two pages could not help 
but feel their hearts swell as there swept over 
them the great pang of disappointment which 
all the crusaders shared. 


CHAPTER XI 


THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 

It was July, 1192, a year from the coming 
of the crusaders, and Richard was again camped 
at Acre, this time on his way home. He had 
skilfully and safely led the retreating army from 
Hebron back to Ascalon, though pursued and 
many times attacked by great forces of Saracens. 
From Ascalon they had made their way to Jaffa, 
where the sick and wounded, who were many, 
had been left in care of the garrison and the 
Christian inhabitants of the place; then at last 
they had come to Acre, whence the greater part 
of the army had already sailed northward for 
Beirut. For though Richard had not conquered 
Jerusalem, he had taken and held all but one of 
the important cities along the coast; this last, 
Beirut, he meant to attack on his way home, for 
to leave these cities in possession of the Chris- 
119 


120 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


tians would be the greatest help in case of an- 
other crusade. 

The king had arranged for the two queens and 
their ladies, who had been staying at Acre, to 
return on the same ship in which they had come ; 
and having made all his plans, he was in his 
tent, only waiting for morning to sail off in his 
royal galley, the Trenchmer , whose crimson sails 
and hull gleamed in the moonlight as it rode at 
anchor in the Bay of Acre. The two pages had 
not yet parted, as Count William was going on 
one of the ships that were to sail with the 
Trenchmer , so the boys expected to be together 
again at Beirut. 

As Richard sat now within his tent, playing 
softly on his lute, while Hugh was busy gather- 
ing up the last of his baggage, suddenly they 
heard the sound of horses galloping on the hard 
sand of the shore. Nearer and nearer they 
came, till the riders drew rein in front of the 
royal tent and sprang to the ground as Hugh 
ran to let them in. 

They were two messengers, breathless and 
spent from the haste of their long ride. Kneel- 
ing at his feet and saluting the king, “ Sire,” 
burst out one of them, “ thank God you are 


THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 121 


still here! We feared we might be too late! 
We come straight from Jaffa to implore help, 
for the city is sore beset! Saladin’s army, a 
mighty host, surrounds it, and though the garri- 
son you left and the townspeople have defended 
themselves so bravely that they have drawn 
praise even from the enemy, they have been 
driven to the citadel as a last refuge. The sul- 
tan has given them five days of grace, and if 
no succor comes, every man, woman and 
child must first pay a heavy tribute of gold, and 
then surrender themselves and all the sick and 
wounded there to the mercy of the infidels.” 

“ Living Lord ! ” broke in King Richard be- 
fore the messenger could say more, “ God will- 
ing, I will do what I can ! ” He thought a 
moment, then, “ Hugh ! ” he called. “ Quick, 
lad ! ” and he dispatched the page instantly to the 
tents of Count William and seven other chosen 
knights still in the camp, and sent a squire to go 
swiftly to the palaces in Acre where lived the 
Masters of the Knights of the Temple and of 
St. John. These were all to come at once to the 
royal tent, where they soon arrived and by mid- 
night had made their plans. Richard, with the 
eight knights and their men, were to sail down 


122 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


the coast to Jaffa, as this was the quickest way 
to get there. The Knights of the Temple and of 
St. John were to gather together, besides their 
own companies, as many as possible of the 
Christians who lived in Palestine, and march as 
fast as they could to help the king. 

Neither Hugh nor Raymond slept much the 
rest of the night; their heads were too full of 
excitement. As it had been expected the galleys 
would leave early in the morning anyway, with 
but little more preparation they were ready, 
and by noon off they sailed, Count William and 
his men on the Trenchmer with King Richard, 
and the other knights and their followers filling 
a few more ships. They were at best only a 
little handful to face the great army of Saladin, 
but the Lion Heart was dauntless and his brave 
followers took fresh courage from him. 

As the crimson sails of the galley puffed and 
filled, the two pages leaned over the rail, watch- 
ing the coast with its palms and olives and the 
square flat-roofed houses of the towns and vil- 
lages they passed as they sped along. The sum- 
mer sun beat scorchingly on the sandy shore, 
and “ My ! ” said Raymond, “ aren’t you glad we 
are going back to Jaffa by water instead of 


THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 123 


marching along that blistering road, looking out 
for scorpions and spiders and thorns all the 
while ? ” 

“Yes, indeed!” replied Hugh. “This is really 
fine, and we’re going pretty fast. If the wind 
holds out, it won’t take us long to get there.” 
But scarcely were the words out of his mouth 
when suddenly the wind failed; the bright sails 
flapped and hung motionless, and soon the galley 
lay becalmed, and of course the other ships were 
in the same plight. For nearly three days they 
could make no headway. Everyone was in de- 
spair, and King Richard paced up and down the 
deck of the Trenchmer like a caged lion. 

But at last, late on the third day, “ Puff ! 
Puff!” the wind sprang up again. Again the 
sails swelled and fluttered as they hurried south- 
ward. Two more days the ships skimmed over 
the waves ; and then, “ This is the fifth day ! ” 
whispered Hugh to Raymond as they hung over 
the water. “If we don’t get to Jaffa tonight it 
will be too late ! ” But they did ! At midnight 
the captain of the galley told the king they were 
entering the harbor of Jaffa; but Richard bade 
him cast anchor till morning, as before landing 
he must find out whether the garrison in the 


124 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


citadel still held out or had been forced to sur- 
render that evening. 

At the first streak of dawn everyone on the 
ships was straining his eyes toward land, and 
what they saw was enough to daunt the bravest, 
but not the bold hearts of the crusaders. The 
shore was covered with tents from which poured 
an innumerable host of Saracens, brandishing 
their weapons, beating their brazen drums, and, 
as usual, yelling at the tops of their voices. 

As King Richard looked toward the citadel, 
which joined the Jaffa walls inside, trying to 
think quickly of some way of getting the news 
he wanted, suddenly, “Look! Look!” cried 
Hugh, pointing breathlessly to its battlements. 
A man was seen standing there, and in another 
moment making his way to the top of the city 
wall, he leaped down. A hillock of sand be- 
neath it saved him from hurt, and springing to 
his feet, amid a shower of arrows from the Sara- 
cens he plunged into the sea, swimming with all 
his might and main toward the Trenchmer ; for 
the red sails of the royal galley had been seen 
far off by the watchers in the citadel, and they 
knew the king would want to know whether 
they had yet surrendered. 


THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 125 


Richard was the first to receive the bold swim- 
mer as wet and panting he clambered up the side 
of the ship, and the moment he heard the garri- 
son still held out, though it was the very morn- 
ing fixed for its surrender, turning to the cap- 
tain who awaited his orders, “ Steer straight for 
shore ! ” he commanded. As the red keel flew 
toward the land, again came a volley of arrows 
from the enemy, but the instant the galley 
reached shallower water, and before the anchor 
could be cast, hanging his shield around his 
neck and leaping into the sea, the Lion Heart 
rushed to shore, waving his great battle-ax be- 
fore him, and followed at once by Count Will- 
iam and the other knights. 

All the Christians fought with the greatest 
bravery, but Richard was like a very demon. 
Always reckless of danger, and now more reck- 
less than ever, perhaps because of his disap- 
pointment in the crusade, he hewed to right and 
left, cleaving for himself a broad path of killed 
and wounded. At first the Saracens tried to 
fight back, but in an amazingly short while they 
were seized with a panic. The terror of his 
name and the terrific blows he was dealing 
struck fear to their hearts, till wildly shrieking, 


126 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


" The Malek Rid The Malek Ric! ” all that 
great host of them took to their heels and fled 
in every direction. Some rushed into the city, 
pursued by Richard, who, joined by the garrison 
there, drove them from street to street till few 
were left alive ; when he went outside again with 
his little handful of men to face those of the 
flying Saracens whom Saladin had managed to 
rally together, the moment they saw him, once 
more terror seized them. All, even the sultan 
himself, fled again, leaving their entire camp in 
the hands of the crusaders. 

The two pages, who had watched the fight 
from the deck of the Trenchmer, too absorbed 
to say a word, now hurried excitedly to land, 
shouting with delight at the fiery dash and fury 
with which the king and his little band had won 
the day; and they soon were busy helping in 
their masters’ tents as they were pitched for 
camping. For all was not yet over at Jaffa. 
Saladin, though beaten that morning, had not 
given up hope of taking the city; and Richard, 
guessing this, decided not to leave at once, but 
to wait and see. Besides, he was expecting the 
little troop which was marching down the coast; 
this arrived in a couple of days, and though all 


THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 127 


were much disappointed to have come too late 
for the fight on the shore, they need not have 
worried, for there was plenty more in store for 
them. 

Meantime the sultan, who was still planning 
to attack Jaffa again, had heard that Count 
Henry of Champagne had got together some 
more soldiers from around Tyre and was coming 
to help Richard; so, leaving a small force to 
watch Jaffa, he hurried off to try to prevent the 
count from getting there. Then, as king and 
sultan managed to keep pretty good track of 
each other’s moves in this game of war, Richard 
at once sent off as many men as he could pos- 
sibly spare to help Count Henry. When Saladin 
found that out, he changed his mind about fight- 
ing the count, and began to rush his big army 
back as fast as he could to try to crush Richard’s 
little army while it was the very smallest. — 
There! Can you keep all that straight in your 
head? — And it was all very quickly done; for as 
the sultan was hurrying back to Jaffa, evening 
had fallen on only the third day after the battle 
on the shore. 

Richard was in his tent, which he had reck- 
lessly caused to be pitched in the camp outside 


128 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


the city walls, instead of within them as every- 
body thought he ought to. He was tired, and 
presently he called Hugh to bring him water and 
comb his hair, which always seemed to soothe 
him, and before long he was sleeping soundly, 
and a little later Hugh himself lay in his narrow 
bed in a small part curtained from the main tent. 

The little new moon rose and set; and the 
page, though a light sleeper, did not waken till 
in the dusk just before dawn, when suddenly 
with a startled feeling his eyes flew open. Be- 
wildered and but half awake, he lay still for a 
moment, when he caught the murmur of whis- 
pered voices outside the tent ; for, as it was very 
hot, this was but loosely fastened. At the same 
instant, as he was trying to listen to these, his 
eyes, grown used to the darkness, could make out 
the stooping figure of a man within the tent who 
seemed to be crawling on his hands and knees 
toward that part where the king slept. 

Hugh, now wide awake and alert, lost not 
another moment. Jumping from his bed, he 
sprang clear over the man, and in one stride was 
at his master’s side, shouting, “ Wake up! Wake 
up, Sire !” 

Richard sat up, dazed at first, and then a 




THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 129 


streak of dawn lighting the darkness, the man 
quickly straightened up, and evidently deter- 
mined to risk all, rushed at him and tried to 
plunge a dagger into his heart. But the instant 
he came near, the king, with a steely gleam in 
his eyes, reached out one hand, and seizing him 
by the throat, held him like a vise till the knights 
and squires close by, who had been roused by 
Hugh’s shouts, came hurrying in, when with a 
contemptuous shake lie flung him to them to be 
dealt with later as he deserved. Then turning 
to Hugh, “ Lad,” said the king, taking Hugh’s 
hand between his own, “ you have saved my life, 
it seems. Had not you wakened me, yonder 
coward would have stabbed me while I slept. I 
shall not forget what you have done, my boy.” 

Hugh flushed with pleasure as the others 
crowded about to hear what had happened. Then 
getting together a band of soldiers, the knights 
hurried out to scour the surrounding hills for the 
man’s companions, though they did not find 
them. They were part of the force left by Sala- 
din to watch Jaffa, and had decided to try to 
capture or kill King Richard while asleep in 
his tent. But when they came there, their bold- 
ness left them, and they had disputed so long as 


130 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


to who should creep in that the dawn had almost 
overtaken them ; and those outside the tent, when 
they heard Hugh’s shout, had leaped on their 
horses and ridden off like the wind. It is but 
fair to say, though, that what they had planned 
was no doubt entirely their own idea and that Sala- 
din himself knew nothing at all about it; for he 
would have been far too chivalrous to attempt 
the life of his royal foe in so cowardly a way. 

But since, luckily, Richard had escaped harm, 
it was just as well that the crusaders were 
roused early, for they had a hard day’s work 
ahead of them. As the summer sun rose higher, 
it was not long before they began to see in the 
distance the vanguard of Saladin’s army, which 
you know was hurrying down to try to crush 
the English king. When Richard saw the great 
host of turbaned Saracens coming closer, he 
quickly gathered together his own little force, 
standing with their backs to the sea, and told 
them no man must flinch for a single instant; 
for while, if defeated, the Saracens could easily 
retreat to the hills, for the crusaders the coming 
battle meant victory or death, since, if beaten, 
they would be driven into the sea. Hugh and 
Raymond, who had crowded near, felt their 


THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 131 


hearts leap as they listened to his words; they 
were wild to be in the fight, but were obliged as 
usual to obey orders and keep to one side when 
it began. 

And it began soon enough. As the Saracens 
came galloping down, the crusader knights 
sprang on their horses, Richard on Favelle ahead 
of all, and rushed to meet them; and from that 
moment the wild battle was on. When it had 
lasted about an hour, the two pages, who were 
anxious to see it and could not well do so from 
the low shore where they stood, decided to try 
to get inside the city and climb up on its wall so 
they could look down on the sandy plain where 
the fight was going on. This they managed to 
do, and watched eagerly as the battle surged to 
and fro. It was a thrilling scene; but towering 
above the struggling mass of men, the Lion 
Heart, always in the thickest of the fight, charg- 
ing furiously to right and left, often entirely 
surrounded by the enemy but always gallantly 
cleaving his way through, rescuing those of his 
knights who were unhorsed, smiting down the 
boldest of the infidels, and performing unheard- 
of deeds of bravery, it was his figure that held 
the boys’ eyes above all others. 


132 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


“ He seems everywhere at once ! ” cried Hugh. 
“ And his battle-ax flashes like a streak of light- 
ning!” 

Just then, “Oh!” exclaimed Raymond, 
“Look! An arrow has hit Favelle!” 

Sure enough, pierced by a Saracen dart, the 
brave war-horse was dying ; but as he sank to the 
ground, Richard, quickly freeing himself from 
the stirrups, sprang to his feet and struck out 
with his battle-ax, felling all who came near him. 

“There, see!” cried Hugh despairingly. “The 
Saracens are closing around him! I don’t see 
how even he can hold out ! ” 

But he did, keeping a circle cleared around 
him. 

“ I wonder why some of our knights don’t get 
him another horse ? ” said Raymond. 

“ He’s so far in the enemy’s lines I suppose 
they don’t see him,” replied Hugh, “ and besides 
they are so busy fighting themselves, — but ” — 
here both boys stared in amazement, — “ will 
you look at that!” 

They could make out a Nubian slave waving 
above his head a white flag of truce and swiftly 
forcing his way among the struggling men to- 
ward King Richard. He was followed by two 


THE BATTLES AT JAFFA 137 


off, lad ! ” said Richard as, rising to his feet, he 
sprang on his horse. 

The Saracens, who while “ The Malek Ric ” 
had been eating, had looked on in silent astonish- 
ment, now took this as a signal to renew the 
battle; and through all the long hot afternoon it 
raged unceasingly. Again and again the forces 
of Saladin swept down upon them in furious 
charges, but nothing could daunt the courage of 
the crusaders who fought with their backs to the 
sea. At last, toward evening, baffled and dis- 
couraged, the fierce shouts of the Saracens died 
away, their brazen drums sounded a retreat, and 
they fled to the hills, leaving hundreds of their 
bravest warriors dead upon the field. 

The final battle of Jaffa was over and the 
crusaders were the victors. It had been won by 
sheer bravery, a small band fighting against 
enormous odds. Of Richard’s part in it, those 
who knew him best declared that for deeds of 
heroic daring and boldness no one had ever 
equaled him. The battle of Assur had been a 
fierce and courageous struggle, but the battle of 
Jaffa was longer and harder fought and the vic- 
tory more amazing; and it was Richard’s brav- 
ery and heroism that all day long kept up the 


138 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


courage of the rest. Indeed, it is no wonder 
that the name of the Lion Heart struck such 
terror to the Saracens that for years and years 
— perhaps they do so yet, for all I know — 
they made of him a bogie to frighten their chil- 
dren into obedience. If their little ones were 
naughty, “ Come,” they would say, “ you had 
better mind quickly, or The Malek Ric will catch 
you!” 


CHAPTER XII 


THE RETURN HOME 

The sultan was so mortified over his defeat at 
Jaffa that he shut himself up in his tent for 
three days and would see no one. When he re- 
covered enough to talk to people again, Richard 
proposed a truce. He had tried to make a truce 
before, for he hated to go back to his kingdom 
unless he could leave the Christians in the Holy 
Land at peace, at least until he could start an- 
other crusade and come back again. 

But Saladin had been unwilling to agree to 
Richard’s terms. Now, however, subdued by the 
battle of Jaffa, he finally made the truce. For 
three years, three months, three weeks and three 
days (and three hours, three minutes and three 
seconds? Very likely, though history writers 
have forgotten to mention it) the Saracens were 
to let the cities alone which the crusaders had taken 
and where the garrisons were to stay, and pil- 
v 139 


140 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


grims were to visit Jerusalem and the Holy 
Sepulchre without being molested. There were 
many other terms to the truce, but never mind 
them here. 

When at last all was arranged, Richard was 

once more ready to start for home, which he was 

anxious to reach as soon as possible, for the 

news from there was all the while worse and 

worse. He gave up his plan of attacking Beirut 

on the way, and also changed his mind about 

sailing on the Trenchmer with the little fleet of 

ships, for his enemies could then keep track of 

his movements and perhaps lay traps for him. 
# 

He decided instead to go back by land and in 
disguise, so he could reach home quietly and then 
make his plans as seemed best. Of course Hugh 
went with him? No; to the great sorrow of the 
boy and the regret of Richard himself, he could 
not take him. Why not? Well, that was be- 
cause, as he was going disguised and did not wish 
more than one page attending him, he thought 
it better to take a boy who could speak German, 
as he would have to pass through Austria and 
Germany and did not know their language him- 
self. Now one of the knights who had not yet 
sailed away happened to have such a page, so it 



HE GAVE HIM A WONDERFUL JEWEL FOR HIS CAP 



THE RETURN HOME 


141 


was he who went with the king; the latter, how- 
ever, when he parted from Hugh, praised him 
warmly for the faithful service he had given, 
and especially for that night in the tent when the 
lad’s watchfulness had saved his life. Then he 
gave him a wonderful jewel for his cap and a 
beautiful clasp for his cloak, and told him that 
when he returned to England he hoped, if pos- 
sible, to take him again into his service. 

Alas, Richard little guessed how long it would 
be before he reached his kingdom again ! I have 
not time here to tell you of his thrilling adven- 
tures on the way home; of how, while passing 
through Austria, he was made prisoner by the 
spiteful Duke Leopold, who for two whole years 
kept him captive in a castle dungeon; nor of his 
romantic release through the singing of a song. 
But by and by you will read all this elsewhere, 
and when you have begun the story, I am sure 
you will find it so fascinating you will not stop 
till you have finished. 

As for our two pages, after a safe voyage to 
the city of Marseilles, on the southern coast of 
France, they were obliged to part, though with 
many heartaches, for they cared greatly for 
each other. Raymond returned with Count 


142 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


William, and Hugh went with a company of 
English knights through King Richard’s French 
possessions and thence to England; and both 
lads took up the life they had left more than a 
year before. When they were old enough, Ray- 
mond received knighthood at the hands of his 
master; while to Hugh’s great joy, it was his 
good fortune to kneel before King Richard, who, 
striking his shoulder lightly with his sword, 
pronounced the words, “ In the name of God and 
St. Michael and St. George I dub thee knight ! ” 
Hugh’s own sword, a fine Damascus blade with 
beautiful jeweled hilt and scabbard inlaid with 
gold and silver, was a gift from the king, as 
were also his handsome spurs. But the new- 
made knight was destined never again to follow 
his master to the Holy Land, as he had hoped. 
In the seven years since his return to England 
Richard had found such difficult affairs of his 
own to attend to that he had been unable to start 
another crusade as he had wished, and his death 
in France a year later forever put an end to his 
dreams. 

What good did the crusades do? Well, that 
is a rather hard question to answer. You know 
I told you there were seven in all, the one of our 


THE RETURN HOME 


143 


story being the third; yet, though none after the 
first succeeded in conquering Jerusalem, they 
did much for the world in other ways. The 
people of Europe and of Asia came to know each 
other better, and each learned many, many things 
from the other. And while it may seem strange 
to us that for hundreds of years so many men 
should flock so far, fight so bitterly and suffer 
so much for the sake of an empty tomb, even 
though the tomb of our Saviour, nevertheless, 
to them it was an ideal full of holiness and 
reverence. And no one can fight for a high 
ideal and be willing to lay down his life for it 
without being the better because of it. It is 
perhaps true that many took the cross more from 
a wish to win fame as soldiers than to save the 
Sepulchre; indeed, it is said by some that Rich- 
ard himself did so. But we must remember 
that at the time of the crusades people cared 
much more for fighting for its own sake than we 
do today; and after all, it was but natural that 
the brave knights, and common soldiers, too, 
should want to gain glory, and no one has a 
right to say that they ever forgot the sacred 
cause for which they had come. 

Hugh and Raymond, I am sure, never forgot 


144 OUR LITTLE CRUSADING COUSIN 


their year in Palestine though they served there 
only as pages. And if they met in after-life, as 
I dare say they did, they must have talked it 
over many times; and I am sure, too, that the 
memory of much they had seen there must have 
been an inspiration to them as long as they 
lived. For with all their quarrels and failures, 
the men of the third crusade and their lion- 
hearted leader left a lasting record of gallant 
and heroic deeds. 


THE END. 


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A — 1 


THE PAGE COMPANY'S 


THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES 

By Harrison Adams 

Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per 
volume $1.65 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO; Or, 

Clearing the Wilderness. 

“ Such books as this are an admirable means of stimu- 
lating among the young Americans of to-day interest in 
the story of their pioneer ancestors and the early days of 
the Republic.” — Boston Globe. 

THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES 5 

Or, On the Trail of the Iroquois. 
u The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not 
only interesting but instructive as well and shows the 
sterling type of character which these days of self-reliance 
and trial produced.” — American Tourist, Chicago . 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI; 

Os, The Homestead in the Wilderness. 

“The story is told with spirit, and is full of adven- 
ture.” — New York Sun. 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI; 

Or, In the Country of the Sioux. 

“ Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic 
situations, true to historic perspective, this story is a 
capital one for boys.” — Watchman Examiner , New York 
City. 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOW- 
STONE; Or, Lost in the Land of Wonders. 
“There is plenty of lively adventure and action and 
the story is well told.” — Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn. 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA; 

Or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest. 

“ The story is full of spirited action and contains much 
valuable historical information.” — Boston herald . 

A— 2 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


THE HADLEY HALL SERIES 

By Louise M. Breitenbach 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 
per volume ....... $1.65 

ALMA AT HADLEY HALL 

“ The author is to be congratulated on having written 
such an appealing book for girls.” — Detroit Free Press. 

ALMA’S SOPHOMORE YEAR 

“ It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things 
in girls’ books.” — Boston Herald. 

ALMA’S JUNIOR YEAR 

“ The diverse characters in the boarding-school are 
strongly drawn, the incidents are well developed and the 
action is never dull.” — The Boston Herald. 

ALMA’S SENIOR YEAR 

“ A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every 
chapter.” — Boston Transcript. 


THE GIRLS OF 
FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES 

By Harriet Lummis Smith 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 
per volume ....... $1.65 

THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE 

“ A book sure to please girl readers, for the author 
seems to understand perfectly the girl character.” — 
Boston Globe. 

PEGGY RAYMOND’S VACATION 

“It is a wholesome, hearty story.” — Utica Observer. 

PEGGY RAYMOND’S SCHOOL DAYS 

The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of 
exciting incidents. 

THE FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE 

These four lively girls found their opportunities to 
serve their country. The story of their adventures will 
bring anew to every girl who reads about them the reali- 
zation of what she owes to her country. 

A — 3 


THE PAGE COMPANY'S 


FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES 

By Charles H. L. Johnston 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 

'per volume ....... $2.00 

FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS 

“ More of such books should be written, books that 
acquaint young readers with historical personages in a 
pleasant, informal way.” — New York Sun. 

FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS 

“ Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, 
and his relation of battles, sieges and struggles of these 
famous Indians with the whites for the possession of 
America is a worthy addition to United States History.” 
— New York Marine Journal. 

FAMOUS SCOUTS 

“ It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascina- 
tion for boys and young men.” — New London Day. 

FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVEN- 
TURERS OF THE SEA 

“The tales are more than merely interesting; they are 
entrancing, stirring the blood with thrilling force.” — 
Pittsburgh Post. 

FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF 
THE BORDER 

“ The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly 
readable, making a book of wide appeal to all who love 
the history of actual adventure.” — Cleveland Leader. 

FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS 
OF AMERICA 

“ The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and 
bravest adventures of which the world has known.” — 
Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 

FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR 

Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glo- 
rious Victory. 

“The pages of this book have the charm of romance 
without its unreality. The book illuminates, with life- 
like portraits, the history of the World War.” — Roches- 
ter Post Express. 

A — 4 


‘BOOKS FOB YOUNG PEOPLF 


HILDEGARDE - MARGARET SERIES 

By Laura E. Richards 
Eleven Volumes 

The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with 
“ Queen Hildegarde ” and ending with “ The Merry- 
weathers,” make one of the best and most popular series 
of books for girls ever written. 

Each large 12mo, cloth decorative , illustrated , 
per volume . . . . . . . $1.65 

The eleven volumes boxed as a set . $18.15 

LIST OF TITLES 

QUEEN HILDEGARDE 

HILDEGARDE ’S HOLIDAY 

HILDE GARDE’ S HOME 

HILDE GARDE ’ S NEIGHBORS 

HILDEGARDE ’S HARVEST 

THREE MARGARETS 

MARGARET MONTFORT 

PEGGY 

RITA 

FERNLEY HOUSE 

THE MERRYWEATHERS 
A— 5 


THE PAGE COMPANY’S 


FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES 

By Charles H. L. Johnston 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 

'per volume ....... $2.00 

FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS 

“ More of such books should be written, books that 
acquaint young readers with historical personages in a 
pleasant, informal way.” — New York Sun. 

FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS 

“ Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, 
and his relation of battles, sieges and struggles of these 
famous Indians with the whites for the possession of 
America is a worthy addition to United States History.” 
— New York Marine Journal. 

FAMOUS SCOUTS 

“ It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascina- 
tion for boys and young men.” — New London Day. 

FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVEN- 
TURERS OF THE SEA 

“The tales are more than merely interesting; they are 
entrancing, stirring the blood with thrilling force.” — 
Pittsburgh Post. 

FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF 
THE BORDER 

“ The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly 
readable, making a book of wide appeal to all who love 
the history of actual adventure.” — Cleveland Leader. 

FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS 
OF AMERICA 

“ The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and 
bravest adventures of which the world has known.” — 
Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 

FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR 

Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glo- 
rious Victory. 

“ The pages of this book have the charm of romance 
without its unreality. The book illuminates, with life- 
like portraits, the history of the World War.” — Roches - 
ter Post Express. 

A — 4 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLF 


HILDEGARDE - MARGARET SERIES 

By Laura E. Richards 
Eleven Volumes 

The Hildegarde-Mairgaret Series, beginning with 
“ Queen Hildegarde ” and ending with “ The Merry- 
weathers,” make one of the best and most popular series 
of books for girls ever written. 

Each large 12mo, cloth decorative , illustrated, 
per volume . . . . . . . $1.65 

The eleven volumes boxed as a set . •, • $18.15 

LIST OF TITLES 

QUEEN HILDEGARDE 

HILDEGARDE ’S HOLIDAY 

HILDEGARDE’S HOME 

HILDEGARDE’S NEIGHBORS 

HILDEGARDE’S HARVEST 

THREE MARGARETS 

MARGARET MONTFORT 

PEGGY 

RITA 

FERNLEY HOUSE 
THE MERRYWEATHERS 

A — 5 


THE PAGE COMPANTS 


THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES 

By Laura E. Richards 

Each one volume, 12mo, cloth decorative, illus- 
trated, 'per volume 75 cents 

CAPTAIN JANUARY 

A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose 
success has been very remarkable. 

SAME. Illustrated Holiday Edition . . $1.35 

MELODY: Tiie Story of a Child. 

MARIE 

A companion to “ Melody ” and '* Captain J anuary.” 

ROSIN THE BEAU 

A sequel to “Melody” and “Marie.” 
SNOW-WHITE J Or, The House in the Wood. 

JIM OF HELLAS; Or, In Durance Vile, and a 
companion story, Bethesda Pool. 

NARCISSA 

And a companion story, In Verona, being two delight- 
ful short stories of New England life. 

“ SOME SAY” 

And a companion story. Neighbors in Cyrus. 

NAUTILUS 

“‘Nautilus’ is by far the best product of the author’s 
powers, and is certain to achieve the wide success it so 
richly merits.” 

ISLA HERON 

This interesting story is written in the author’s usual 
charming manner. 

THE LITTLE MASTER 

“ A well told, interesting tale of a high character.** — 
California Gateway Gazette. 

A— 6 


BOOKS FOR TOUNO PEOPLE 


DELIGHTFUL BOOKS FOR LITTLE 
FOLKS 

By Laura E. Richards 

THREE MINUTE STORIES 

Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight plates in full color 
and many text illustrations . . . . $1.50 

“ Little ones will understand and delight in the stories 
and poems .” — Indianapolis News. 

FIVE MINUTE STORIES 

Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated . $1.50 

A charming collection of short stories and clever 
poems for children. 

MORE FIVE MINUTE STORIES 

Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated . $1.50 

A noteworthy collection of short stories and poems 
for children, which will prove as popular with mothers 
as with boys and girls. 

FIVE MICE IN A MOUSE TRAP 

Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated . $1.50 

The story of their lives and other wonderful things 
related by the Man in the Moon, done in the vernacular 
from the lunacular form by Laura E. Richards. 


A NEW BOOK FOR GIRLS 

By Laura E. Richards 

HONOR BRIGHT 

Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated . . . $1.75 

No girl ever deserved more to have a series of stories 
written about her than does HONOR BRIGHT, the new- 
est heroine of a talented author who has created many 
charming girls. Born of American parents who die 
in the far East, Honor spends her school days at the 
Pension Madeline in Vevey, Switzerland, surrounded by 
playmates of half a dozen nationalities. As are all of 
Mrs. Richards’ heroines, HONOR BRIGHT is the high- 
est type of the young girl of America, with all the in- 
dependence of character which is American to the core 
in young as in old. 

A — 7 


( 


THE PAGE COMP ANT 8 

THE BOYS’ STORY OF THE 
RAILROAD SERIES 

By Burton E. Stevenson 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 
per volume ....... $1.65 

THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND; Or, The Ad- 
ventures of Allen West. 

“ The whole range of section railroading is covered in 
the story.” — Chicago Post . 

THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER 

“ A vivacious account of the varied and often hazard- 
ous nature of railroad life.” — Congregationalism 

THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER 

“ It is a book that can be unreservedly commended to 
anyone who loves a good, wholesome, thrilling, informing 
yarn.” — Passaic News. 

THE YOUNG APPRENTICE; Or, Allan West’s 
Chum. 

“ The story is intensely interesting.” — Baltimore Sun. 


BOY SCOUT STORIES 

By Brewer Corcoran 

Published with the approval of “ The Boy Scouts of 
America” 

Each, one volume, 12mo, cloth decorative, illus- 
trated, per volume $1.65 

THE BOY SCOUTS OF KENDALL VILLE 

The story of a bright young factory worker who can- 
not enlist because he has three dependents, but his 
knowledge of woodcraft and wig-wagging, gained through 
Scout practice, enables him to foil a German plot to blow 
up the munitions factory. 

THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE WOLF PATROL 

The boys of Gillfield who were not old enough to go 
to war found just as many thrills at home, chasing a 
German spy. 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


THE CARITA SERIES 

By Lucy M. Blanchard 
Each, one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illus- 
trated $1.65 

CARITA, AND HOW SHE BECAME A PATRI- 
OTIC AMERICAN 

“One of the strongest points of the book is the fact 
that its characters seem to be real people, doing the 
things that real people do. More than that, they are 
wholesome, worth-while folks whose companionship in- 
spires a sane and pleasing view of life.” — Salt Lake 
Tribune, Salt Lake City. 

CARITA’S NEW WORLD 

“Wholesome and altogether fascinating; all this can 
be truly said of all of Miss Blanchard’s stories for girls. 
‘ Carita’s New World ’ has both of these characteristics.” 
— Troy Record, Troy, N. Y. 

“ There is a fine originality about Carita that will make 
her adorable to all girls.” — Oakland Tribune. 


THE MERRYMAKERS SERIES 

By Herschel Williams 

Each, one volume, 12mo, illustrated . . $1.65 

THE MERRYMAKERS IN NEW YORK 

“ The book is bright and clever and gives an excellent 
picture of our great metropolis. One can in his imagina- 
tion see New York most entertainingly through the eyes 
of the young Merrymakers.” — St. Andrew’s Cross, Phila- 
delphia. 

THE MERRYMAKERS IN CHICAGO 

The Merrymakers who had such a splendid Christmas 
vacation in New York, enjoy another rollicking good 
time, — a summer vacation in Chicago. While brother 
Ned. the young newspaper reporter, “ covers ” the Re- 
publican national convention in Chicago, Carl, the oldest 
of the four sightseeing Merrymakers, decides that he 
wants to own a department store some day, and inciden- 
tally learns all the steps he must take from being an 
errand boy to a merchant magnate. 

A — 9 


THE PAGE COMPANY’S 


IDEAL BOOKS FOR GIRLS 

Each , one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, . $1.00 

A LITTLE CANDY BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL 

By Amy L. Waterman. 

“ This is a peculiarly interesting little book, written in 
the simple, vivacious style that makes these little manuals 
as delightful to read as they are instructive.” — Nash- 
ville Tennessean and American. 

A LITTLE COOK-BOOK FOR A LITTLE GIRL 

By Caroline French Benton. 

This book explains how to cook so simply that no one 
can fail to understand every word, even a complete 
novice. 

A LITTLE HOUSEKEEPING BOOK FOR A 
LITTLE GIRL 

By Caroline French Benton. 

A little girl, home from school on Saturday mornings, 
finds out how to make helpful use of her spare time, and 
also how to take proper pride and pleasure in good 
housework. 

A LITTLE SEWING BOOK FOR A LITTLE 
GIRL 

By Louise Frances Cornell. 

“ It is comprehensive and practical, and yet revealingly 
instructive. It takes a little girl who lives alone with 
her mother, and shows how her mother taught her the 
art of sewing in its various branches. The illustrations 
aid materially.” — Wilmington Every Evening. 

A LITTLE PRESERVING BOOK FOR A 
LITTLE GIRL 

By Amy L. Waterman. 

In simple, clear wording, Mrs. Waterman explains 
every step of the process of preserving or “canning” 
fruits and vegetables. 

A LITTLE GARDENING BOOK FOR A LITTLE 
GIRL 

By Peter Martin. 

This little volume is an excellent guide for the young 
gardener. In addition to truck gardening, the book gives 
valuable information on flowers, the planning of the 
garden, selection of varieties, etc. 

A — 10 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 

THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS 

(Trade Mark) 

By Annie Fellows Johnston 
Each large 12mo , cloth , illustrated, per volume . $1.75 

THE LITTLE COLONEL STORIES 

(Trade Mark) 

Being three “ Little Colonel ” stories in the Cosy Corner 
Series, “ The Little Colonel,” “ Two Little Knights of 
Kentucky,” and “ The Giant Scissors,” in a single volume. 

THE LITTLE COLONEL’S HOUSE PARTY 

(Trade Mark) 

THE LITTLE COLONEL’S HOLIDAYS 

(Trade Mark) 

THE LITTLE COLONEL’S HERO 

(Trade Mark) 

THE LITTLE COLONEL AT BOARDING- 

(Trade Mark) 

SCHOOL 

THE LITTLE COLONEL IN ARIZONA 

(Trade Mark) 

THE LITTLE COLONEL’S CHRISTMAS 

(Trade Mark) 

VACATION 

THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR 

(Trade Mark) 

THE LITTLE COLONEL’S KNIGHT COMES 

(Trade Mark) 

RIDING 

THE LITTLE COLONEL’S CHUM, MARY 

WARE (Trade Mark) 

MARY WARE IN TEXAS 
MARY WARE’S PROMISED LAND 

These twelve volumes, boxed as a set, $18.00. 

A — 11 


THE FACIE COMPANY'S 


SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITIONS 

Each small quarto, cloth decorative , 'per volume . $1.50 

New plates, handsomely illustrated with eight full-page 
drawings in color, and many marginal sketches. 

THE LITTLE COLONEL 

(Trade Mark) 

TWO LITTLE KNIGHTS OF KENTUCKY 
THE GIANT SCISSORS 
BIG BROTHER 

THE JOHNSTON JEWEL SERIES 

Each small 16mo, cloth decorative, with frontispiece 

and decorative text borders, per volume $0.75 

IN THE DESERT OF WAITING: The Legend 

op Camelback Mountain. 

THE THREE WEAVERS: A Fairy Tale for 
Fathers and Mothers as Well as for Their 
Daughters. 

KEEPING TRYST: A Tale op King Arthur's 
Time. 

THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART 
THE RESCUE OF PRINCESS WINSOME: 

A Fairy Play for Old and Young. 

THE JESTERS SWORD 


THE LITTLE COLONEL’S GOOD TIMES 
BOOK 

Uniform in size with the Little Colonel Series . $1.75 

Bound in white kid (morocco) and gold . 5.00 

Cover design and decorations by Peter Verberg. 

“ A mighty attractive volume in which the owner may 
record the good times she has on decorated pages, and 
under the directions as it were of Annie Fellows John- 
ston.” — Buffalo Express . 

A — 12 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


THE LITTLE COLONEL DOLL BOOK — First 
Series 

Quarto, boards, printed in colors . . . $1.75 

A series of “ Little Colonel ” dolls. Each has several 
changes of costume, so they can be appropriately clad 
for the rehearsal of any scene or incident in the series. 

THE LITTLE COLONEL DOLL BOOK — Sec- 
ond Series 

Quarto, boards, printed in colors . . . $1.75 

An artistic series of paper dolls, including not only 
lovable Mary Ware, the Little Colonel’s chum, but many 
another of the much loved characters which appear in 
the last three volumes of the famous “Little Colonel 
Series.” 

THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS: as Told to 
the Little Colonel 

Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated . . . $1.00 

This story originally appeared in “ The Little Colonel’s 
Hero,” but the publishers decided to issue it as a 
separate volume. 

“ No one could tell the story of the Red Cross with 
more vividness and enthusiasm than this author, and 
here she is at her best. No book published during the 
Great War is more valuable and timely than this appeal- 
ing story of the beginning of the Red Cross.” — New 
York Tribune. 

“ It deserves a place in every school as well as in 
every home where the work of the Red Cross is appre- 
ciated.” — Evening Express, Portland, Me. 

“ Not only VERY interesting, but has large educa- 
tional value.” — Lookout, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

JOEL: A BOY OF GALILEE 

12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . . . $1.75 

“ The book is a very clever handling of the greatest 
event in the history of the world.” — Rochester, N. Y. f 
Herald. 

A — 13 


THE PAGE COMPANY’S 


THE SANDMAN SERIES 

Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 
per volume . . . . . . . $1.65 

By William J. Hopkins 

THE SANDMAN : His Farm Stories. 

“ Mothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who take 
the little ones to bed and rack their brains for stories 
will find this book a treasure.” — Cleveland Leader. 

THE SANDMAN: More Farm Stories. 

“ Children will call for these stories over and over 
again.” — Chicago Evening Post. 

THE SANDMAN: His Ship Stories. 

“ Little ones will understand and delight in the stories 
and their parents will read between the lines and recog- 
nize the poetic and artistic work of the author.” — 
Indianapolis News. 

THE SANDMAN: His Sea Stories. 

“ Once upon a time there was a man who knew little 
children and the kind of stories they liked, so he wrote 
four books of Sandman’s stories, all about the farm or 
the sea, and the brig Industry, and this book is one of 
them.” — Canadian Congregationalist. 

By Jenny Wallis 

THE SANDMAN: His Songs and Rhymes. 

“ Here is a fine collection of poems for mothers and 
friends to use at the twilight hour. They are not of the 
soporific kind especially. They are wholesome reading 
when most wide-awake and of such a soothing and deli- 
cious flavor that they are welcome when the lights are 
low.” — Christian Intelligence. 

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